Gaffata

As a class field trip on February 17, 2011 my art 410 class visited the Gaffata Museum. I found this place strange and unusual because as I watched the spinning turbines filled with what looked to be car antennas move at there own paste I couldn't help but to think how pointless the technology was. as an effect of the spinning the car antennas made the sound of rain dropping. Every installation at the Museum made its own sound which made it in some areas unbearable. The boxes of wires that were mounted on the back walls sound like a manufacturing company moving ice or something heavy on a conveyer belt. The ball with the wire in the box sounds like a wind storm. The paper installation being blown by a fan sounds like heavy breathing which particularly freaked me out because I hate to hear a person, who is normally overweight, breathing very deeply as if every breath is a struggle for air. Overall I did not enjoy the Gaffata I thought it was a very torturous event to put an expecting mother through.

MOMA

In the San Francisco Museam of Modern Art I was drawn to Stanley William Hayter's painting Marrionette. After walking  the second floors show I found myself glued to this painting for half an hour. Marrionette is comprised of oil on canvas and is made up of red, yellow, and orange verticle scribbles that go up and down the canvas. These scribbles create the back drop for a black abstract figure. In a couple of  Ellaborate strokes Haytergives the figure what appears to be a head and breast that are made in a circular motion, as well as arms, neck, legs and a torso all of a single stroke. At any rate when the lines come together they create a simple stick figure. The piece is approximately 3" x 2" and it's bight width and overall mounting on the gallery wall gives the playfully effect of a six year old creating the art work. The work looks so primitive almost as if made during the stone age, yet it's technique is so simple anyone could have created it. The piece is so abstract using lines circles and different colors makes up a varge discription of what may make up a womens body. Hayter seems to appropriate inspiration from Jacksons Pollock's Lavender Mist as well as Jean Bastioche's SOMe.

I choose this piece in regards to the fact that my doodles sometimes come out looking similar but some how I never had the courage to acknowledge them as a work of art.

MOAD Museum

On May 2, 2011 was the perfect day to spend time with one of my aunts that I rarely see because she lives in stockton. As we met up during her lunch break from one of the corporate offices in downtown San francisco we began to stroll down Mission and 3rd where we stopped at the Museum of the African Diaspora. The design of this Museum is small but in an interesting way uses all its space very efficiently. On the second floor my aunt and I watched a video about Celia, an African/Cuban woman, documentary about the contributions she made to salsa music, because as it stands she is known to be the currator of the music. Next there is a long hallway that explains how food, hairstyles, and the way we dress as Americans has long roots from Africa. My favorite part of the Museum was the Slave Narrative Room. The room is dark with two rows of bench chairs that are anchored against the wall, and all thats left is empty space in between the two benches. The room is small and boxed in, and on the wall directly in front is a projector that swirls images around as the narrator of each story speaks. Some stories are spoken with so much pain and grief that it makes you cry. Some are very technical and tells their story in a manner that explains what a slave is. The slave narrative room had a profound effect on me because I use to feel as though the days when African American people had been enslaved were long over, but when I listened to the Slave Narratives I couldn't help but feel like lots of people that look like me and have the same color skin as me have been trapped by a slave mentality. In an attempt to lighten my mood I went to the 3rd floor where there is an African Art Exhibit that  embraces all the beauty of being black, bold, and inventive. The last place I stopped was the 2nd floor, and there was this kind of interactive painting that ask all those who view it, "If you were going on a journey what would you take", and I put on a stick note that I would take my family, love, forgiveness, and God. The things I experienced in this Museum makes me question my thoughts about how other nationalities perceive black people. Do they think of use as capable of intelligence or merely freed wild animals? Is our diversity a factor that defines a culture or is it over looked? All I know is my black is beautiful and the creator of this world embed a type of charm in African American people that is found in no other group of people.    

MADD Powerpoint

http://slidesha.re/kt5tkW

Monument for MADD Mothers Against Drunk Driving

FIRST PAGE OF POWER POINT

In memory of Carri Lightner and Laura Lamb 

Introduction

There are so many youth in America that have become victims of drunk driving. I want to use a monument to commemorate those lives that have been lost too soon due to drunk drivers. 

Background

As an expecting mother I want to somehow be an active participant in protecting not only my child but all children from danger. In my quest to find social groups that aim to protect children, prevent lost of life, and share child loss experiences I came across the none profit group "MADD" or Mothers Against Drunk Driving.   

MADD was incorporated on September 5, 1980 After Candace Lighter lost her daughter Carri to a hit and run drunk driver.

—Cindi Lamb joined the fight against drunk driving after her daughter Laura became the youngest quadriplegic

 when were hit head on by a drunk driver. 

Their mission statement, which continues to guide the organization today, read “The mission of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking.”  

To date, MADD’s work has saved nearly 300,000 lives…and counting.

History 

From its humble beginnings 30 years ago, MADD has evolved into one of the most widely supported and well-liked non-profit organizations in America.

MADD organization went from a handful of mothers with a mission to stop drunk driving to one of history’s greatest grassroots success stories—and helped save thousands of lives along the way.

MADD's Accomplishment from 1983-2005

1983 

National office moves to Texas

1984

Federal 21 Minimum Drinking Age Act signed into law on July 17

More than330 MADD chapters in 47 states by year-end

1986

Project Red Ribbon —known today as Tie One On For Safety—launched

1987

1-800-GET-MADD is launched

1988

MADDvocate magazine launched

All states and D.C. pass federal 21 drinking age into law

Anti-Drug Abuse Act signed— amendments include extending crime victim compensation rights to DUI/DWI victims and increased incentives for states enacting key DUI/DWI laws

1990

MADD amicus brief to U.S. Supreme Court helps establish sobriety check points as constitutional

1991

MADD key in shaping the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act 

First Rating the States survey released

MADD helps pass Transportation Employee Testing Safety Act

1994

Alcohol-related deaths drop to a 30-year low

Chronicle of Philanthropy survey names MADD America's most popular charity

2000

MADD grows to approximately 600 chapters and 2 million members/supporters

2001

MADD College Commission Report to Address Alcohol’s Impact on America’s College Campuses released

2004

All states and D.C pass .o8 BAC as the illegal drunk driving limit

Although I have never lost a loved one to drunk driving my goal is to be apart of the instative to stop drunk driving all together.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The sculpture/monument will be located in front of MADD's headquarters in Houston TX. It will be a fountain comprised of white marble with the sculpture in the center. Its function will be to act as the memorial place for all the victims of drunk driving. The monument will be cut out of a large slab of white marble, and the marble will act as the essence of childhood which is pure and unattained. In the center of the marble block MADD's mission statement sketched in the marble. On the right and left of the marble block Carri and Laura's story are sketched in. The sculpture in the center will be given a childlike appeal yet still maintaining the strength of marble. The strength of the marble will not only symbolize the parents strength as mourners dealing with a lost, it will also commemorate the hard, stable, and reliable parent lives that have also been lost to drunk driving. The sculpture will be cast with a fountain so that water can poor from structure and fall in a body of water the in the same manner as the tears of the victims families.

BENEFITS

Also as an added function, the victims families can go to one of MADD's 29 local branch, located all over the Untied States, with a picture of their loved ones to be imprinted on a small cooper medallion using a pressed penny souvineer machine. Which can then be mailed to MADD's headquarters or one can visit the headquarters were all the medallions are thrown into the monument forever as a commemoration of a life lost but never forgotten.

ESTIMATED COST

8X8 64 SQUARE FEET WHITE MARBLE SLAB AT $60 PER SQUARE FEET = $3600

FOUNTAIN PUMP = $34.97

FOUNTAIN SPRAY HEAD = $24.97

$30 80 LB BAG OF CEMENT + $319 CEMENT MIXER = $349

SCULPTURE TOOLS = $825

Air hammer and chisels

Die grinders of various sorts

Polishers of various sorts

Angle grinders

Drills

Saws

Flexible shaft

PIPE INSTALLATION SPECIALIST =$550

STORAGE = 0

COMMISSION FEE = 10,000

TOTAL EXPENSES = $5,383.94

TIMELINE

WEEK 1 

Carve cube block out of marble, leaving shape for the artistic sculpture piece while implanting parts of the fountain fixtures.

WEEK 2

Carve mission statement into the front of the block

WEEK 3

Carve Cari's story into right side of cube 

WEEK 4

Carve Laurie's story into left side of cube

WEEK 5

Put finishing touches on cube half 

WEEK6

Start lower half of artistic sculpture piece

WEEK 7

Add fountain pieces while putting finishing touches on lower half of artistic sculpture piece

WEEK 8

Start mid section of artistic sculpture piece

WEEK 9

Finish mid section of artistic sculpture piece

WEEK 10

Start top section of artistic sculpture piece

WEEK 11

Add fountain pieces while putting finishing touches on top section of artistic sculpture piece

WEEK12-19

Create fountain shape for the bottom half of monument. Continue to install fountain fixtures. Link pipes to fountain fixture. test fountain 

WEEK 20

Put finishing touches on fountain

WEEK 21

Unveil monument/sculpture

MADD's HEADQUARTERS

511 E JOHN CARPENTER FRWY
IRVING, TX 75062

ONE MONUMENT AT THE HEADQUARTERS IN TEXAS….GOOGLE EARTH MONUMENT WHITE OR MARBLE PICTURE TOUR OF ALL THE PRESIDENT'S OF MADD OVER THE YEARS CIRCLING THE MONUMENT.

End quote from MADD

last page of power point

The horrible truth about drunk driving is that it can affect anyone at any time. It doesn’t discriminate by gender, race, age or income. And, it’s a crime that’s committed by friends, family members and neighbors, not just “career criminals.” But those facts are also what make drunk driving prevention a cause everyone can support. It’s an issue of public safety— everyone’s safety

Monument Ideas

Monument Idea #1

The Faces of Greatness

Totum Pole of faces from the great Minority Achievers 

Growing in the ground that shows that shows the minority struggle is rooted and grounded in Northern America

Every pioneer against social injustice faces is planted on the top of the totum pole in the area of their respective states/cities of accomplishments

While the other great’s a line the pole from mid bottom to right under the pioneer

The pole will be tall as a water tower

At the bottom a poem or words of wisdom and enlightment will be inscribed on every pole.

The pole is to be erected in the heart of every respective city of each headlining pioneer

This monument will act as not only a reminder but also a tourist attraction by using its size and stylized design to captivate the world

All monuments in their respective cities will face toward Africa signifying the organs of man as one people undivided by race, religion, or culture but as one free mass a people free from all oppression.  

Monument Idea #2

Sculpture Monument for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The sculpture/monument will be located in front of MADD's headquarters in Houston TX. It will be a fountain comprised of white marble with the sculpture in the center. Its function will be to act as the memorial place for all the victims of drunk driving. The monument will be cut out of a large slab of white marble, and the marble will act as the essence of childhood which is pure and unattained. The sculpture in the center will be given a childlike appeal yet still maintaining the strength of marble. The strength of the marble will not only symbolize the parents strength as mourners culping with a lost, it will also commemorate the hard, stable, and reliable parent lives that have also been lost to drunk driving. The sculpture will be cast with a fountain so that water can poor from structure and fall in a body of water the in the same manner as the tears of the victims families.

BENEFITS

Also as an added function, the victims families can go to one of MADD's 29 local branch, located all over the Untied States, with a picture of their loved ones to be imprinted on a small cooper medallion using a pressed penny souvineer machine. Which can then be mailed to MADD's headquarters or one can visit the headquarters were all the medallions are thrown into the monument forever as a commemoration of a life lost but never forgotten.

ROLAND BARTH

When I think of a monument I think of it as a gateway to the past that has the history of the person who built, the place it has been incorporated into, and the people it represents. In the article "Eiffel Tower" by Roland Barthes, he depicts the earliest observation of the Effiel Tower by the people as not even being aesthectically pleasing, but today that has changed. The size and the placement of its structure makes it monumental interms of representation of a people. However, ironically to the people of Paris it had to grow to be embedded into the meaning of a people. Its purpose had to change, which is not typical of a monumental structure. It has no erganomic qualities and it is purely mathematical, yet overtime its image has changed a culture along with the world as one that has become synonomous with Paris and the French people. The effect that the Eiffel Tower has on human existance, in my opinion is rare, and this type of monument  attracts travelers from all over the world to embrace its appearance on a personal level. Although its purpose was never historical over time the Eiffel Tower has built history around it. In the same interest as the Golden Gate Bridge and the St. Louis Arch it brings tourist from fare and wide to marvel at the work of men. 


As a contrast to Barths article Paul Levine's article gives incite to what makes a monument monumental. I understand that a monument is put in place to commerate  something  or someone. Most monuments are commerative and subject to a time and place that should not be forgotten. In my opinion no matter how captivating a monument is and no matter how strong the implications embedded in its structure, unless its meaning is passed down through generations or as expressed as a shared human experience the the initual sting  or sense of pride that it once convied will forever be lost. We use books, folk tails, and monuments to tell our story through human history, but the success of the message depends largely on its convience through time and history. I agree with the quote about building a public record of public historical memory is a practice that has existed with in the United States since its inception in 1776” as a way to keep public record in a land so new and so profoundly built on false truths. In creating these records a new truth is thus created and the world will hold these truths to be self evident because the facts have been presented as unmovable, unchangable, and set in stone.