Paulo Freire published the Pedagogy of the Oppressed in 1968 which detailed a revisionist plan for social justice though education. It also included a comprehensive Marxist analysis of the mutually destructive relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed which only succeeds in dehumanizing both.

,
Image by Andre Koehne

"It is not those whose humanity is denied
them who negate humankind,
but those who denied that humanity"

Paulo Freire

This project was based on Gregory Ulmer's MEmorial project, which he outlines in his book Electronic Monuments. The MEmorial seeks to bring attention to issues that have been overlooked by associating them with issues that have already have monuments and have received undue attention.

The issue of water scarcity has certainly not received a great deal of attention in the Fargo/Moorhead area, as we often suffer from an over abundance of water. The Hjemkomst monument certainly is representative of the time, effort and dedication that the people of this area, particularly those of Nordic decent, put towards memorializing their Northern European heritage.

A huge part of the MEmorial project is the incorporation of the peripheral, a physical representation of the Electronic Monument the MEmorial constructs. My proposed peripheral (one that I hope may yet sill be built) takes the form of a metal sculpture of a tree and clothesline. I've even proposed several locations within the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center that would be appropriate sites for my peripheral.



The tree itself appears dry and twisted, which provides a sort of visual jolt of the message itself. This becomes my punctum, an idea that Ulmer borrows from Roland Barthes. The clothesline calls attention to the amount of water that we use to clean and the sacrifice that represents in terms of life (the dead tree). Along the clothesline are dollar bills which similarly invoke a connection to dirty money and water profiteering by corporate interests, the need to clean that money, and (because visitors are invited to take the dollar bills) that idea of putting the control and the power of water back into the hands of the people. The dollar bills will also be stamped with the project's emblem which lists the website address and encourages people to donate a dollar to the fight for global water justice. I'm interested in seeing if I can connect the value and electracy of the MEmorial to the "viral" phenomena by the passing and spending of dollars around the community. Ulmer discusses the need to create traffic flow to the MEmorial and the "dollars for water" idea just might have that ability to catch on.

At the top of the page is the project's Emblem. This strives to be a visual representation of the project that connects with a slogan to encompass the message of the project very quickly and effectively through simple design. The elements I've focused on are the viking ship, the clothesline and the water, all the key elements of the project. The slogan "Not a drop to drink" from the cliche adage about the ocean, does a few things. It connects to the idea of Viking ship as a seafaring vessel, comments on the growing issue of water scarcity, and also suggests that water used for washing becomes water that can't be used for drinking.

If the full extent of my project ever reaches completion, there will be information here on how you can donate towards supporting the cause of water warriors around who are fighting around the world for water justice. Until then, you can still check out how you can help here.
Dollar image by Charlie Ambler, stamp image by me

Water scarcity is a looming threat to life on this planet with the potential for greater ramifications then most of us could possibly predict. Water connects us all, through heritage, through transport and through blood. Action is needed, but it needs to be the right action.

Photos by Olaf Gradin, Tim and Colin Ashe

The average American uses 15 gallons of water per day just washing clothes. Per day. We don't think about that. We typically don't think about water much, but we rarely consider how much goes into keeping our little piece of the world clean. We certainly don't really think about how much water it takes to wash our clothes. We just toss them into that white box and when they come out they're clean. The intermediate process doesn't concern us.

We don't often stop and think that there are people even within America who don't always have the option of just running a small load so that favorite tshirt is freshly laundered for tomorrow, never mind the millions around the world who need to save clean water for drinking.

Images by Daniel Horacio Agostini and sharyn morrow

Charlyn W, Olivier Durand and Mithril

In our obsession with cleanliness, the true value of water is confused. Water is vital part of what keeps us alive even as it keeps us in clean towels. It needs to be reconginzed that clean, affordable drinking water is a human right. Once we've got that sorted we can work on the right to clean, fluffy towels.

Hopperstad Replica-photo by me---------Hopperstand Original-photo by Betsy Divine

The Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center represents how much we as a community of Fargo/Moorhead residents value our heritage, our blood. The extrodinary work of the Hjemkomst and the replica of the Hopperstand stave church from Vik, Norway are clear evidence. The danger is that we become so concerned about this blood that connects us to our history our heritage, we forget about that life sustaining fluid that connects us all. 83% of our blood is water.

Image by Andres Gallardo