*Monumental Ideas

Invisible Monuments- How many public

monuments do you think you have you passed without even noticing?

What is a monument anyway?

What do you want people to think about?

How can we make our ideas be seen and heard?

Thomas Hirschhorn, Gramsci Monument, 2013

Everyone has the capacity to harness the power of ideas. Such capacity requires effort. It requires making a decision, such as taking a train to the Bronx and walking to the Forest Houses, and having a conversation, perhaps about Weiner or Spitzer, but more likely about Gramsci, or about race, or guns, or art.

ART 21- Season 7

Thomas Hirschhorn, Gramsci Monument, 2013

Everyone has the capacity to harness the power of ideas. Such capacity requires effort. It requires making a decision, such as taking a train to the Bronx and walking to the Forest Houses, and having a conversation, perhaps about Weiner or Spitzer, but more likely about Gramsci, or about race, or guns, or art.

ART 21- Season 7

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gramici+project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5yyegM2u88

http://www.art21.org/videos/episode-investigation

“I decided to join the monument”

-Stan the Man“All humans are

intellectuals”-Gramsci

Gramsci emphasized the need for popular workers' education to

encourage development of intellectuals from the working

class.

“A monument stays with you in your heart”

“It’s about learning from each other”

Other Monumental Artists:

Krzysztof Wodiczko, Bunker Hill Monument,

1998

Fred Wilson, E Pluribus Unum, 1998

Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1980-82

Activity Ideas:● This can be an individual project, but works very well as a group or class experience as well.● Students will select a topic/idea/question that the want to create a monument about.● How will they create a monument that isn’t invisible? How will it engage people? ● Students should engage in a planning phase, including small scale mock-ups and drawings.● How could you create your idea on a larger scale using materials from your art room? ● If possible, create large scale monuments around the school.● This could also be created as a retablo/diorama if space is limited. ● Another consideration is to change an existing sculpture so it is no longer invisible (such as artists Fred Wilson, or Krzysztof Wodiczko- see below).

What are the personal items, objects, or ideas that are most significant in your life?

How might these objects be transformed into art?

What do you want people to think about or talk about?

What do you want to say?

What do you want people to know?

QUICK STUDY ACTIVITY: Making Personal Monuments

How do I capture the thoughts in my mind?

1. What are the personal items, objects, or ideas that are most significant in your life?

2. What do you want people to think about or talk about?

3. What do you want to say?

4. What do you want people to know about you?

5. What would one of these ideas look like made out of clay?