Consciousness Monument (Model)

Ignorance begets ignorance. Many of the issues, injustices, discrimination and belligerent hate in this world stems from ignorance, a lack of understanding and the absence of true reflection. Too many people fail to see things as they truly are or even fully evaluate and see themselves. If we were to be more conscious beings, so many social issues would be minimized or even no existent. This especially goes for issues of racial, gender and sexual identity discrimination. If you were mentally conscious and enlightened, there would be no desire to harbor blind hate; if you spent your time seeking the realities and truths, you'd have no time to generalize based on perpetuated, widely inaccurate stereotypes. People are so used to just regurgitating what they've been taught to told as opposed to thinking for themselves with a awakened, open minds. I'd want to create a monument that simple gets people to think with simple questions. These questions would plant seeds for reflective thought.

What I have in mind is a gigantic 500 ft2 bullet and waterproof white screen being placed in a historically important location/city of each state. I'd carefully select the cities. Some city would be chosen because of a historical event that took place there or because of a lack of adequate education etc. Basically, it will be placed in a location that I feel "needs" a touch of awakening or that holds deep significance. The text will be written in bold black letters. At the top of every hour, a reflective question would be posted. I would have my own questions but I'd also allow submissions to be made via social media. Those submitted question would, of course, be screened and carefully selected. People would be that much more involved and therefore more invested and interested. I'd also post quotes that, in my opinion, are simple but inspire deep thought. Examples of questions: "what is truth?", "what is normal? Why?", "is gender nurture or nature?", "what are you living for?", "do you live to work or work to live?", "when did you abandon your dream? Why?" And quotes like: "the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story" - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. There would be even deeper, more philosophical questions posed as well. At the bottom of the screen will always remain the phrase "stay woke", coined by Erykah Badu, which means to stay aware of what is REALLY going on around you. The media oftentimes clouds what matters and peoples' thought process so I'll be utilizing media to do the exact opposite.

For the model, I created a paper loop to be turned to show three different faces through two slits on the side of the screen. The screen was pasted on from a separate print out. Each face has the time to reflect that the text would change each hour. I purposely selected a picture of a highway that has moderate to heavy traffic because I would choose a location in each state that is one of the busiest for that state.