Improbable Monument, Part 2

Introduction
This monument is dedicated to the Union soldiers and the slaves for whose freedom they fought. This 4 foot marble cube will have a weatherproof LED panel with touch screen capability to showcase the Civil War's main battlegrounds and the stories of famous slaves. Dred Scott comes to mind when thinking of famous slaves; In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared that all blacks - slaves as well as free - were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permitting slavery in all of the country's territories.

If this monument were erected, then all could learn the history of slavery in America and about those individuals who stood out even under such abject conditions. The cube would stand in the middle of Union Square so named because it once was the site for Union soldier rallies during the war. It is my hope to reclaim the historical landmark for the purpose of education on the evils of slavery and what this country did to rectify the situation. 

Background
The idea for the monument came to me after reading abolitionist literature by Thomas Payne and after viewing the movie, Lincoln. The literature led me to the concept of a monument and my moral outrage over slavery, and the movie made me think of the Union soldiers who bravely fought for freedom for those disenfranchised people.

Estimated Costs
The amount that I estimated was based upon permits, construction materials, 20-year endowment for maintenance and conservation, leasing of land and weatherproof, touch-sensitive LED panels. The cost for the project came to $5 million. I am allotting for a security guard and for a structure to keep the monument safe from vandalizers during down time.

BADASS Exhibit by Rene Garcia, Jr. at Project One Gallery

The concept of the art knocked me off my feet. Instead of paint, there was Glitter on Panel everywhere on these huge pieces of art. The sizes varied from 2' X 4' to 8' X 6' and there was no lack of excitement. The artist is a family man with two kids and a wife, who dabbles in Graphic Art herself. When I walked into to gallery located in the Potrero Hill district, I was greeted by a Michael Jackson album insert but his head was replaced with the head of a lion. The portrait was huge (6' X 9') and breathtaking and not just for Michael Jackson fans. This was one of the few times I could take a photo with no one in front of it.

There were three panels that reminded me of Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Le Grand Jatte but I was only able to get a photo of two of them. The glitter under the lights really sparkled and made the pieces more tangible in a certain way. With all the subtlety of an acid trip through a drag queen's shoe closet, Garcia Jr.'s canvases magnify the voluptuous beauty of pop stars, horror movie monsters, and rock 'n roll.

I really enjoyed Garcia's take on the scorpion. There is a lustful element in the panel that seems to be missing from the rest of the collection. Garcia is the resident artist at Project One and Scorpion is part of the permanent collection which is his largest piece by far (8' X11'.) This piece really showcases Garcia's talent in a big way. So enjoy the collection and find it at 251 Rhode Island St. at 16th on Potrero Hill.

Improbable Monument, Part 1 - Analysis and Intervention of Union Square

Analysis

Union Square is the heartbeat of San Francisco itself -- ever changing, eternally celebrating, yet firmly rooted in its glorious past. Two years before the Gold Rush, in 1847, Jasper O'Farrell created a design for San Francisco, with Union Square as a public plaza. By the 1880s, it was a fashionable residential district, and in 1903, the towering monument was added and created by Robert Aitken, topped by the bronze goddess Victory, modeled after Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, known for her enormous influence in the San Francisco art community.

Union Square was built and dedicated by San Francisco's first American mayor John Geary in 1850 and is so named for the pro-Union rallies that happened there before and during the United States Civil War. Since then, the plaza underwent many notable changes with the most significant first happening in 1903 with the dedication of a 97 ft (30 m) tall monument to Admiral George Dewey's victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish American War. It also commemorates U.S. President William McKinley, who had been recently assassinated.

Beginning in 2009, painted heart sculptures from the Hearts in San Francisco public art installation have been installed in each of the four corners of the square. Each year, the sculptures are auctioned off to benefit the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation and new sculptures painted by various artists are installed in their place. Many of the sculptures are permanently relocated to various other locations throughout the city.

Intervention

My proposal is to return Union Square to the memory of the Union Army and those slaves whose freedom they fought for. I removed the wreath and replaced it with shackles in honor of the slaves who were hopeless in their condition and I put the head of Jefferson Davis on the Triton to symbolize victory over the Confederacy. I wanted to honor the lives of those who were enslaved for so many years and pay homage to those individuals who devoted their lives to end it. I recently saw the film Lincoln and was amazed at what it took to get the 13th Amendment passed by the Congress and amended to the Constitution. The passion Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field put into the roles of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln was overwhelming. This film renewed my interests in slavery, politics and all its evils and reminded me of those abolitionists who were so outspoken on the topic such as Thomas Paine - a forgotten founding father who was way ahead of his time when it came to the topic of slavery.

Paine actually called for punishment of slave traders, freedom for slaves and their children as well as reparations from their owners and citizenship for those slaves born in the United States as early as 1775 in an essay titled African Slavery in America. So let's have a moment to remember the Civil War and the 13th and 14th Amendments abolishing slavery and making those disenfranchised persons citizens.

Seeing the Past in Present Tense by Paula Levine

I enjoyed the article and what stood out most to me is that monuments really can defy physics by allowing your past to occupy the same space as your present. Monuments, in their best light, reeducate the present dwellers of time of their past and remind us of our values today. In the article, monuments are described as cultural mnemonic devices that are commemorated by local and at times by national festivities and ceremonies. Monuments such as the one in Harburg erected to fight against Fascism and racism is all but forgotten in the present town. It stood 40-feet tall with a three-foot rectangular base and was covered with signatures of those pledging to fight against Fascism. It was lowered into the ground and only the top of the monument remained visible. The signage had been covered with graffiti and bird droppings and there was neglect to the grass area nearby.

Mining New Territories

Angst/Insomnia is the name of this haunting piece that conjures up all the images one can see when having problems with either. The swell of emotions can take its toll on the human psyche when under pressure. The picture is used to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil. Insomnia is most often thought of as both a sign and a symptom that can accompany several sleep, medical, and psychiatric disorders. Insomnia is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. My subject is experiencing an impairment and seems to be trapped by his own thoughts.