Thursday, September 30, 2004

buildings. of. disaster.



Over on the Moss site I found some very strange "artwork" for your house called Buildings of Disaster. Like any other disaster, I find myself both fascinated and horrified by these. Fascinated that someone would make them, yet...horrified that someone would make them.

why?
The obvious question is, why? The answer is "Souvenirs are important cultural objects which can store and communicate memories, emotions and desires. Buildings of Disaster are miniature replicas of famous structures where some tragic or terrible events happened to take place. The images of burning or exploded buildings make a different, populist history of architecture, one based on emotional involvement rather than scholarly appreciation. In a media-saturated time, world disasters stand as people’s measure of history, and the sites of tragic events often become involuntary tourists destinations."



but. why?
Even if I bought all that, it still doesn't explain why you'd memorialize the O.J. car chase. It's not exactly a disaster or a building. But it is $95, like the rest.

2 Comments:

Blogger Adrienne said...

Hmm, I wonder if this means they are working on a piece for the twin towers.

3:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reminds me of Charles Krafft's "disasterware"; Delft plates with images of famous disasters (The bombing of Dresden, the sinking of the Andrea Dorea, floods, ect.). The same theme, but the old lady look of Delft brings it a certain humor. Take a look, his Porcelain War Museum stuff is really interesting too.

http://www.antiquesatoz.com/artatoz/krafft/index.htm

11:54 AM  

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