2001 Monolith build

[joberg]

Okay, I'm a bit surprised that NOBODY knows.
So, you visit the Museum of Technology, that shows early computers that no YOUNGSTER has ever heard of and copy the Font and sign format and put up a basic PLAQUE near your monument describing this as a replica from the movie.

I think that it's a great idea

 

[Jintosh]

When I was younger, I remember going to like a campground and there were nature trails and every so often was a 3 foot tall post with a sign on it. The sign would tell what flower, or tree or rock you were looking at. You can also stop at some vista points along big highways, and they will also have signs describing the natural habitat. I found the vista point sign and posted it.

The original campground ones were smaller and more practical.

 

[alan molstad]

Okay, I'm a bit surprised that NOBODY knows.
So, you visit the Museum of Technology, that shows early computers that no YOUNGSTER has ever heard of and copy the Font and sign format and put up a basic PLAQUE near your monument describing this as a replica from the movie.

I have been thinking of a sign....

 

[alan molstad]

QUESTION:

Let's say I decide to make some type of a sign to go with the Monolith display.

what would that sign say?

I need to know about how much text I would put on the sign so that i know what size and type of sign to make.

and....would the sign say things about the movie that no one has seen?

or would the sign talk about my construction of the black monolith?

or....would I write things on the sign that build on the myth of the movie monolith?
Like would I just make up a story on the sign that the Monolith "Suddenly appeared at this location on_____ date" ?

"It's origin and purpose, still a total mystery"


suggestions?

 

[Jintosh]

I'll give it some thought.
First thought...The black monolith appears in the 1968 movie, "2001 : A Space Odyssey" and symbolizes the mysterious guidance over Human kind. by Alien forces.

 

[alan molstad]

Tycho Magnetic Anomaly - 1

"Eighteen months ago, the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered.
It was buried forty feet below the lunar surface, near the crater Tycho.
Except for a single, very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter,
the four million-year-old black monolith has remained completely inert.
Its origin and purpose still a total mystery."


Dr. Heywood Floyd
Chairman of the United States National Council of Astronautics

 

[alan molstad]

so......while Im retired and do not work, I yet like to drop by and check out the old jobsites where the guys are still busy that i used to work with.

Checking a dumpster....(thats what retired guys do) i saw that someone had tossed away a basket ball net backstop.

Its about 4 foot across of clear plastic.

The perfect thing to use to make a sign out of.

I was not dressed to dive into the dumpster and get it..

I came back 2 days later to get it around 8:00 at night.
BUT......some fool had dropped a section of cement pipe on it now!

Im screwed.....

the cement pipe on it is heavy, like 600 lbs....
So ...my idea to use that is screwed..

The search goes on.....

 

[joberg]

Reproduction of the mysterious Monolith seen in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie "A Space Odyssey"
Based on the book "The Sentinel" by Arthur C. Clark.

 

[alan molstad]

BUCKLE UP BOYS!

WE BE MAKING THE 1ST EVER MONOLITH "INTERPRETIVE" SIGN!


(photos below....sit down, pour a long drink, and have a look)

 

[alan molstad]

now last week I spotted a basket ball hoop in a dumpster at where I used to work.

(Yes I'm retired and I sneak a peek at dumpsters now all the time,,,its what retired guys do)

the basketball back-stop was made of plastic, and that gave me an idea ...
However when I returned later to 'find' that back-stop some fool dumped a load of cement on top of it.
I was screwed....My plans were screwed.

But then....I did what all old men are good at doing....

I complained.

I called a guy and said that they should not be dumping tons of cement into a dumpster, they should take it across the road to the crush pile and then its free, but they will be charged money to have a dumpster filled with cement.

So i told the guy to have the new guys on the crew dig all the cement out of the dumpster!

and today....I checked out the same dumpster, and all the cement was suddenly gone!!!!!


so i reached down and grabbed the basket ball back-stop.


STEP #1......lets begin

 

[alan molstad]

The design of the back-stop is such that its one thick price of plastic , but its broken up into sections.
This will allow me to make a sign that had lots of different sections and photos along with the text that talks about the Monolith

 

[alan molstad]

I think what im going to build is a sign made of wood, and then i will just screw the plastic back-stop to the wooden sign.

So the first thing I have to do is make a wood sign.
but Im not a carpenter...so i did what i always do...I drop the first bit of wood on the floor and then sit and look at it for a long time.....


thinking.....

 

[alan molstad]

I decided that the sign will stand about 5 foot tall, and that it would have 2 legs made of 4x4s...
Each 4x4 will be sunk down into the ground a little over 2.5 feet.
i cut the 4x4s to the same length and decided that they looked right about 22 inches apart.

 

[alan molstad]

next,,,the plywood.

The only plywood i have for free was also "found' in the same dumpster.
Im not sure what it was from?....but its over an inch and a 1/4 thick!

 

[alan molstad]

I lay the plastic back-stop on top of everything to see if it looks like the image I have in my mind?


close enough!

 

[alan molstad]

Im digging in the 4x4 right now, and getting the sign built...

and yes...its started to rain....

 

[alan molstad]

I did not know where to place the sign?

I tried many locations, having my wife hold the sign in different spots while I looked to see it .
The problem was that any placement of the sign near the Monolith seemed to "take away" from the look of the monolith.

I wanted to add to the whole experience of seeing the Monolith, and not distract anything from it.

So we ended up with a placement that was on the other side of the path from the monolith.
Its close enough to be still adding to the experience, but not in the way of the line of sight.

This means that to view the monolith the guest will actually turn away from the monolith to read about it, then turn back to view it again with this added information in mind.

I hope the resulting effect if for people to see what I have made in a way that almost makes the monolith "real".

I also decided that the sign will need a little roof over it to protect it from the rain.

 

[alan molstad]

I finished putting the sign up and I think I can live with this placement.

Now to start the painting

 

[alan molstad]

this is the look a guest will first have of the sign..
I wanted it to not distract the eye as you walk near the monolith

 

[alan molstad]

the view in fuller context of the monolith