(no subject)
Here is an interesting organization, The Center for Land Use Interpretation:
http://www.clui.org/clui_4_1/index.html
They do a variety of things related to broadening the public's awareness of what has happened and what is happening with the space around us. They place artistic constructions (sort of like Christo) in outdoor environments like old quarries, ghost towns, etc, fund lectures, exhibits, and multimedia presentations on various topics, and so on. One of their presentations on the Trinity atomic test was particularly interesting. They happen to be based in Wendover, Utah, so maybe I will pay them a visit sometime if I'm in the area. I think it would nifty to work in an organization like CLUI.
Take this as an example of what they do... nothing beats an exploding whale as real-life dada:
As part of The Center's on-going Event Marker Project, commemorating unusual and exemplary forms of land use, a monument was placed at the site where a car was crushed by a piece of whale blubber following a 1970 attempt to "disintegrate" a beached whale. The monument was the second installment in the peculiar detonations series of the Event Marker Project.
The story of the failed disposal incident, recounted in the CLUI monument, is as follows:
Detonation of a Grey Whale
On November 12, 1970, the Oregon State Highway Department performed the detonation, in an attempt to remove a beached whale, discovered dead on the shore five days earlier, upwind from the coastal town of Florence. The decision was made to disintegrate the whale with explosives, with the belief that it would be broken down into small fragments which would then be picked up by gulls, crabs and other scavengers. Twenty 50 lb. cases of dynamite were placed under the 45 foot Pacific Gray whale, and a quarter mile radius was cleared of spectators for safety. The explosion, captured on film by a news team, was more vigorous than anticipated, and many in attendance were hit by whale debris. Much of the whale carcass remained unexploded on the beach, and was buried where it laid.
Nobody was injured, though everyone in attendance was coated in a " sticky film" by the ensuing cloud of rotting whale vapor. The most damage was suffered by a car parked 450 yards from the blast site. A 1970 Oldsmobile, owned by Walter Umenhofer, was struck by a large blubber fragment, which entirely flattened the roof, effectively totaling the car. The car had been purchased two days earlier from Dunham Olds in Eugene, a dealership then advertising "A Whale of a Deal". The Center's weather-resistant Plexiglas and wood commemorative monument describing the events was installed by CLUI members in April, 1995.
The monument was placed at the exact spot where Mr. Umenhofer's car was parked when it was struck, based on the recollections of Mr. Umenhofer and other attendees of the whale detonation event that were interviewed by CLUI personnel.
http://www.clui.org/clui_4_1/index.html
They do a variety of things related to broadening the public's awareness of what has happened and what is happening with the space around us. They place artistic constructions (sort of like Christo) in outdoor environments like old quarries, ghost towns, etc, fund lectures, exhibits, and multimedia presentations on various topics, and so on. One of their presentations on the Trinity atomic test was particularly interesting. They happen to be based in Wendover, Utah, so maybe I will pay them a visit sometime if I'm in the area. I think it would nifty to work in an organization like CLUI.
Take this as an example of what they do... nothing beats an exploding whale as real-life dada:
As part of The Center's on-going Event Marker Project, commemorating unusual and exemplary forms of land use, a monument was placed at the site where a car was crushed by a piece of whale blubber following a 1970 attempt to "disintegrate" a beached whale. The monument was the second installment in the peculiar detonations series of the Event Marker Project.
The story of the failed disposal incident, recounted in the CLUI monument, is as follows:
Detonation of a Grey Whale
On November 12, 1970, the Oregon State Highway Department performed the detonation, in an attempt to remove a beached whale, discovered dead on the shore five days earlier, upwind from the coastal town of Florence. The decision was made to disintegrate the whale with explosives, with the belief that it would be broken down into small fragments which would then be picked up by gulls, crabs and other scavengers. Twenty 50 lb. cases of dynamite were placed under the 45 foot Pacific Gray whale, and a quarter mile radius was cleared of spectators for safety. The explosion, captured on film by a news team, was more vigorous than anticipated, and many in attendance were hit by whale debris. Much of the whale carcass remained unexploded on the beach, and was buried where it laid.
Nobody was injured, though everyone in attendance was coated in a " sticky film" by the ensuing cloud of rotting whale vapor. The most damage was suffered by a car parked 450 yards from the blast site. A 1970 Oldsmobile, owned by Walter Umenhofer, was struck by a large blubber fragment, which entirely flattened the roof, effectively totaling the car. The car had been purchased two days earlier from Dunham Olds in Eugene, a dealership then advertising "A Whale of a Deal". The Center's weather-resistant Plexiglas and wood commemorative monument describing the events was installed by CLUI members in April, 1995.
The monument was placed at the exact spot where Mr. Umenhofer's car was parked when it was struck, based on the recollections of Mr. Umenhofer and other attendees of the whale detonation event that were interviewed by CLUI personnel.