It's like I'm in his head when I read his words. The way he writes... unstructured and jumbled with no clear beginning or end. Just his thoughts exactly as he's thinking them.
Advertisements and magazine covers are made to draw people in; the image is the selling point. Every color, every shape, every letter is strategically compiled to catch the eye of the passerby. Barthes really felt the need to go way into that. A different and interesting read nonetheless.
Onto the Eiffel Tower.... he talks about it in relation to vision, science, art, architecture, religion... he's everywhere. Still, not much structure in his ideas.... just a cluster of them, seemingly never-ending. Interesting though, how the monument has no physical use. It's just a symbol; something to see. He also discusses the Tower in relation to nature. How it overlooks the city, the mountains, the waters, the forests. One of the major power that the Tower holds is its height; (makes me wonder.... what if there was a monument so tall, it overlooked Earth. A bird's eye view of not only a city.... but an entire world...). His last comments say that the Eiffel Tower does everything. People can use it to think... eat... relax... be separate from the city and look upon it simultaneously. It's pretty magnificent.
I find monuments to be fascinating. They combine architecture with a deep sense of culture. They're truly massive despite the physical size. As Paula discusses in her article, they remind, they warn, and they mark. Their presence is remarkable. When I visited Washington DC, the monuments almost took my breath away. Not only is the architecture amazing, but also the age of the monuments and the immense meaning behind them. The Library of Congress was one of my favorite places to be. The building is so old. The interior was painted entirely by hand. And the documents inside are awesome! One of the most incredible documents I saw was the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. There are ideas written in the margins, and words scratched out. It's a really cool thing to see, the very beginnings of the ideas that built the country we live in today. DC in general... it's a very moving place to be.
the inside of the Library of Congress:
FDR Memorial Museum:
For my Improbable Monument, I think I will create it as massive as possible. I want it to reach space, and overlook our Earth.
(ideas/research in progress)
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