The basis of my memorial will be a statue of a woman representing Mother Earth made of clear, hollow lucite. The lucite container will be filled with salt water collected from Earth’s oceans. The statue will stand at 120 feet tall, approximately the height of the Statue of Liberty without its base. Across her torso, embedded in the lucite, the continents will be represented by minerals indigenous to each of them. North America will be represented by copper, South America will be made of gold leaf with gemstones embedded in it, Antarctica will be made of antimony, Asia will be represented by mica, Africa will be made of aluminum studded with diamonds, Europe will be made of chromium, and Australia will be represented by tantalum. By using water and minerals from Earth, I will remind the audience of what we have lost through abuse and neglect. The striking, beautiful image of Earth’s natural resources will remind us of what is no more.
The second aspect of this monument will be a massive skirt inspired by the AIDS quilt. The skirt on my memorial will serve a somewhat different purpose than that of the AIDS quilt by which it was inspired, while also bearing some important similarities. The two memorials share the fact that they are pieced together from many different sources to create one cohesive project. Also, both center around the goal of evoking memory and emotion. However, the original AIDS quilt was more focused on remembering the dead and raising money for research. It was displayed around North America and raised almost half a million dollars for AIDS research. My piece will function in a parallel but different way. Like the AIDS quilt, it will be toured around many cities. However, instead of raising money for disease research, the monetary aspect of the skirt will lie in its ability to fuel the tourism industry around the new planet, aiding the economies of the cities to which it travels. Also, while the AIDS quilt memorialized specific dead, this work memorializes a grander, more collective death: the end of life on Earth. Both spark memories of what we have lost, but in different ways.
For the material of the quilted skirt, I will submit the question to Earth residents from all over the globe: “what will you miss most about Earth?” This question will be asked of earthlings who know that they will soon be forced to leave their planet, which will likely influence their answers to be quite reflective and nostalgic. People will be encouraged to send in quilted panels representing the most important things to them about Earth. In addition to panels made specially for the quilt, I will accept pieces of fabric that represent people’s answers to the question in more abstract ways. For example, if one were to miss their home most, they might send in curtains or a rug from their house. The panels and pieces that are submitted will be sewn together by those involved in the fashion and costume industry, as well as anyone else with a sewing machine who wants to help, increasing community involvement in the creation of the piece.
While it is steeped in memory, this project walks the line between monument and memorial. This project as a whole occupies the liminal space between past and present, bringing back memories of a former life and planet and prompting reflection upon how we got to where we are. It welcomes the possibilities of a new life on Mars, while also mourning and remembering the bygone era of life on Earth. The call of this “monumorial” is the same call that immigrants have heard and uttered for generations: “don’t forget where you came from and what came before you”.
