The Catastrophe

Imagine a catastrophic event has just occurred. Perhaps someone had their finger a little too close to that “big nuclear button.” Regardless, here you are, and to your knowledge, you’re the last person still alive on earth. It’s a virtual wasteland of rubble and scrap metal. There is little to no food or water, and all of the technology you're familiar with is essentially useless. [[What to do now?]]

Well you could scavenge for supplies, traveling the globe in hopes you'll find other survivors. It dawns on you, though, that the single most important thing you can achieve, following this apocalypse, is to immortalize the events that have taken place. Above all things, you must cement your place in history. Some future civilization, or even a far off alien race, will discover your work and understand what happened. [[Navigate and record your efforts to traverse this barren landscape]] [[Construct Monuments]]

Excellent, you're on the right track... You begin wandering this new and bizarre landscape. Completely unfamiliar with what you once called home, you start to notice so much of what you once had. No longer are you bound to //getting to work on time// or being stuck in traffic. You start to realize how much of the old world was constructed, to guide you from one destination to another. Simply wandering with out purpose has led you to realize there was never any one way to navigate your landscape, and you had missed out on so much opportunity. You stop to further ponder this moment: [[Memorialize this realization]] [[Keep wandering]]

Lucky for you, your trusty solar powered pick up truck and welder still work, even with out the power grid up and running. You fire up your pick up and begin navigating the new landscape. A few miles down the road you encounter a mass of earth and cement. [[Drive around]] [[Try to move the obstruction]]

You recall the path you've just made: A right out of the old neighborhood Then a left North about a quarter of a mile Slight left, around the fallen power lines North again, another quarter mile Slight right, this time avoiding the half-cow, half chicken... thing. North. Keep heading North, forget that horrible creature Left Right Left Hit a highway, follow that, until the pile of wrecked cars is insurmountable Right again North, maybe a mile? Left, cutting through that old playground where you broke your arm on the monkey bars when you were younger. Cut through your elementary school... or what's left of it. Up through the old church. Stay clear of the crater with seeming no end a few more rights and a few more lefts And here you are, wherever //this// is. [[No how do I record this?]]

You continue to wander this barren landscape, but you feel the overwhelming desire to leave your mark in this world, you need to do //something// [[Memorialize this realization]]

Well, I cant imagine finding a pen and paper out here. You'll have to think of something else. [[A Tablet]] [[Wood Board]]

Just like the ancient civilizations your read about in that eighth grade geography class! You'll have to find some wood, some thing to pour, and a way to mark the path [[Good thing there's a hardware store over there]]

That's a good idea, theres some plywood piled up over there, Go and grab a sheet. [[Great now how do I make a mark?]]

In the shed next to the plywood you discover, there is a garden hose, cement, and some glue. [[Eureka! I'll construct a formwork, glue down the garden hose, pour in the cement, wait for it to set, pull the cement out, and the image will transfer onto the board a perfect Remnant]]

You head into the hardware store and find everything you need. ''Except a pen and paper of course.'' You quickly construct a form work, and you decide a garden hose would be excellent for casting the path you've recalled. After laying out the path inside the form work, you mix up some cement with your precious water supply, //after all what's more important?// and cast the 4x8 tablet outlining the new way you have managed to navigate your old town. [[Wait]]

You wait the 12 hours, or so, required for the cement to fully set, in the mean time you construct an impromptu lifting device to help hoist and display your monumental map. [[You hook up the crane to the steel hooks you so ingeniously imbeded into the cement tablet and begin to hoist.]]

Disaster! the cement wasn't reinforced enough and crumbles right before you. However, when you remove the rubble, and uncover the form work, you discover the cement has left a wonderful print of your intended map. //This works just as well I suppose// You hang the work on the wall, and move on, continuing in your process to map and mark the territory you uncover. <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="sR3fhnm"><a href="//imgur.com/sR3fhnm"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [[Years Later]]

It goes exactly as according to plan, when you remove the cement it crumbles, and you are able to uncover the form work. You discover the cement has left a wonderful print of your map. You hang the work on the wall, take a brief moment to revel in your success and continue on, exploring and creating maps to mark and record the new landscape you inhabit. <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="sR3fhnm"><a href="//imgur.com/sR3fhnm"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [[Years Later]]

You drive around the obstruction //good thing your truck has 4 wheel drive// but you cant help but think you missed an opportunity to leave a mark, that shows you were there in this new world. As you continue on down the road, you encounter a mass of ripped apart steel and materials, it must've been an large building destroyed in //the event// [[Stop and consider what it is you're looking at]] [[Continue on]]

Upon further examination, you determine this was a factory at one time. Filled with robots, producing commodities for your consumerist society. //Non of that works any more...what a waste.// You begin rifling through the scrap, intent on finding materials and things that intrigue you. Before long you've pulled something from the wreckage that you can't quite understand. You've really never seen anything like it. What could it possibly have been for? [[Pull it out of the pile]]

No! You cant miss this opportunity, remember you need to immortalize you survival, to mark that you were here, present in this very moment. Warning future civilizations of the catastrophe that crumbled your world. [[Stop and consider what it is you're looking at]]

You begin to examine the pile of concrete and earth that obstructs your path. The red clay contrasts the cement dramatically, and you realize its a quite a nice representation of how the old world viewed resources. Resources were theirs to be controlled, conquered and laid claim to. Paved paths meant domain, and ownership of the land, a dismissal of its real value, and the soil that was once teaming with life. Perhaps if we had recognized that no one //owns// the earth, this catastrophe might never have occurred. [[Preserve this moment]]

You make an effort to excavate the sculpture, but It seems stuck. With some tow straps you had in your truck you pull it out of the pile. As you lift it into a position you think it was supposed to go you realize it is too large and unweildy for you to move by yourself. <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="EtOJK7S"><a href="//imgur.com/EtOJK7S"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [[Try and lift it Anyway]] [[Invent something to lift the object]]

You beging moving the large piece of steel around trying to understand its proper orientation, you're so intrigued by the mystery of the object you don't realize how unbalanced it is, and sure enough it topples over! Crushing you underneath it. Now you will never understand what it was that you discover, and worse over, there will never be a record of your existence. [[Years Later...]]

You scrounge together some tools, equipment and more steel. You construct an impromptu crane to hoist the piece up over your head. <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="oAyp816"><a href="//imgur.com/oAyp816"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [[Hoist the object up with the crane]]

The more you examine it, the more you realize just how interesting it is. Maybe this is a sculpture? Combining the rig, with the object, conveys a message. It simultaneously demonstrates both the catastrophic event that occurred, and the faults of your past society. Championing progress and construction over art and life. You decide to leave the object just as it is. Content with its placement, you move on. You continue down the road seeking more piles of scrap with to explore and examine, seeking further truth in objecthood. <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="RcnfscY"><a href="//imgur.com/RcnfscY"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [[Years Later]]

Out of the rubble you select a slab, mostly intact, that you believe demonstrates these ideas. It's enourmous. It must weight a thousand pounds. How might you ever be able to lift such a beast? [[Hook it up to your truck]] [[See if you can construct something to lift it]]

You arrange some recovery straps that to wrap the slab of concrete and earth and hook it up to the trailer hitch on your truck. You know you've got enough power to raise the slab, but will it hold? [[Inch forward]]

You wrap recovery straps underneath the sculpture, but don't yet have a rig for lifting it vertically. You'll have to look around for some materials and invent something. [[Invent something to move the object with]]

As the truck lurches forward, the slab begins to emerge upward. You achieve 90 degrees, and you're quite proud of this accomplishment. But it appears to be lack in some way. If some future civilization were to come across this object, they might simply ignore it, figuring it was just more refuse. You elect to instead, raise the piece up onto a pedestal, surely this will mark your existence in history. <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="h0Ri2Kw"><a href="//imgur.com/h0Ri2Kw"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [[See if you can construct something to lift it]]

You hook up your impromptu crane to the slab and begin manually lifting, but that simply wont do. You'll have to loop the pulleys on the crane up to you truck and use that to lift the object. Once you've done that you can set it back down on a pedestal. [[Lift the Block]]

Your plan works! You are able to lift the monumental slap and place it on a pedastal. Proud of your work, you elect to continue on your journey, creating landmarks that cement your existence in time and history. [[Years Later]]

You scrounge together some tools, equipment and more steel to construct an impromptu crane that will hoist up the block. [[Hook up the crane to the recovery straps]]

Written By: Sean Mueller Original Sculptures By: Sean Mueller Edited By: Emanuel Echeverri To Return to beginning and choose another path click: [[A Catastrophic Beginning]]

An Alien race has taken over Earth, They find your works and call it "art" <blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/LVhS8"><a href="//imgur.com/LVhS8">Midway Final Images</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [[Credits]]

There is no "years later..." Earth itself ceases to exist because of your brash attitude. There is no more history of the planet. [[Credits]]

You do exactly as planned, construct the form, pour in the cement, and now all thats left to do is wait. [[Do something useful in the mean time]]