The Lava Project
October 31st, 02009 by Alexander Rose
Audience members at Arthur Ganson’s Seminar on September 14, 02009 were among the first viewers of The Lava Project Documentary, which premiered in our new Long Shorts series – short videos that explore, explain, or exemplify long-term thinking and responsibility.
The Lava Project Documentary was created by White Elephant DesignLab, a group of designers who explore natural phenomena and experiment with various materials and their external influences. Earlier this year, the group created a piece at the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii that was inspired by our promotion of long-term thinking through use of the five-digit date. Using a “02009″ stamp made of hardwood and aluminum, they imprinted the congealing surface crust of Pāhoehoe lava in order to equip the emerging lithosphere with its date of origin.
“We developed the idea of using this symbol only when we had already arrived on the island,” says Tobias Kestel of the design team. “We thought it was just the right symbol to use in this context of volcanic activity. Processes of new land being formed by lava flows have been going on for billions of years on the planet, which provided the perfect ground for embossing your symbol of long-term thinking.”
“We are aware,” Kestel adds, “that some people might still argue that we actually did alter the environment there. At the same time, the symbolic value and the message and discussions our action will provoke can be and will be of relevance, even if only a few people will start to think differently after having seen the results and having learned about your project, as we will always promote our project together with the reference to The Long Now Foundation.”
For additional photos and information about The Lava Project Documentary, visit the White Elephant DesignLab website.
This entry was posted on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 8:21 pm and is filed under "Long Shorts". You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
[...] The Lava Project – The Long Now Blog [...]
Posted on November 2nd, 2009 at 12:18 am
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Posted on November 4th, 2009 at 9:25 am
The “material” is not only a symbol of purity and creation, it is sacred to the native Hawaiian people. The external influence you provided was a violation on nature, culture, and inteligence. I take from this “experiment” the impression of egotism and insensitivity. Very bad design by any standard.
Posted on November 5th, 2009 at 2:02 am
[...] The Lava Project – The Long Now Blog [...]
Posted on November 24th, 2009 at 7:23 am
This is a great little film. The project seems to be remarkably creative, while at the same time very useful. Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about sharing and the commons. This film really opened my eyes to the way we share, not only with others, but with the future. As Stewart said, imagine how excited the archeologists of the future will be when they find the timestamps.
Posted on November 30th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
fantastic!!!
Posted on December 23rd, 2009 at 2:27 am
“Long endless hikes, Destruction & creation at the same time” What complete manure!! which is also akin to destruction & creation.
This is the Austrian self advertising version of the UK’s Turner Prize, was waiting for Michael Palin & John Cleese to show up.
Posted on January 4th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
@DarwinsChurch:
W.E. strongly recommend a visit (and hikes) to this incredible place.
All the best for 02010! Best, W.E.
Posted on January 14th, 2010 at 1:49 am
@ W.E.
Thank you for the invite but not for me, still have not seen the paleolithic cave paintings. Think archeologists of the future will find enough space debris :) Ref Ideas about Long-term Thinking =
Darwins Church: open source mission statement / creed
What would you add to the open source belief system of Darwins Church as a mission statement / creed ?
It seems to me that famous quote by Voltaire “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him” is still true but we have evolved to the time when Darwins Church with an existing infinite life membership of all from amoeba to primate, religious order to atheist group, all faiths and philosophers accept the origin of species as the natural theology. It is possible that through Darwins Church atheist’s can always work through reason and ambiguity rather than in isolation / antipathy
Your comments please
Encompassing all entities
The science of life
Infinite congregation
Interdependent
Encompassing all primate belief systems, faiths, creeds, ……….. from totem poles to cathedrals all that once gave social order
DarwinsChurch.com
DarwinsChurch.org
Will be an open source organisation
We evolved religions to survive, what’s the point in believing something if you don’t think it’s true? Our fears created our superstitions at the dawn of our intelligence; beliefs are built into us through ignorance. We will always have belief systems, I see no reason why we can’t have a belief system where every living thing is a member by default and is based on reason
a faith for reason.
Church
any Christian – non-Christian religious society, organization, or “congregation”: the Jewish church.
Congregation
(in colonial North America) a parish, town, plantation, or other “settlement” = the planet