Multiple Perspectives | Cultural Memory & The Muses
IS 1 (Memory)
Spring 2019
Requirement Of The Project
What cultural or political event from the past is your group interested in recreating? What connection does it have to the present? What muse would assist and inspire this historical memory? What assets can they bring to the recreation? Write a story of how your group will depict this event or issue and how the muse inspires your recreation. What happens in the diorama? Where and when does it occur? Who is there?
Research
We as a group of three have decided to make the “2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami” as the base of our diorama. The main topic of the diorama is the dock which flowed to the west coast. A magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of Japan’s Honshu island on March 11, 2011. The Great East Japan Earthquake — the name given to the event by the Japanese government — triggered a massive tsunami that flooded more than 200 square miles of coastal land. According to an article published in The New York Times; “SAN FRANCISCO — A tsunami emanating from the massive earthquake that hit Japan on Friday sent seven-foot waves into the Hawaiian Islands but appeared to have caused no major damage in Hawaii or along the West Coast”. “Powerful waves also sunk several boats in Santa Cruz harbor, about 60 miles southeast of San Francisco on Monterey Bay. A series of waves ripped docks up and sent debris speeding toward shore”. Waves were estimated to be as high as 38 meters, the height of a 12-story building. The March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan followed by the nuclear crisis are having a large negative impact on the economy of Japan but a lesser effect on world trade and financial markets. Japan has lost considerable physical and human capital. Congressional interest on the economic side centers on humanitarian concerns, radioactive fallout reaching the United States, the impact on U.S. citizens and American companies in Japan, the effects on trade and supply chain disruptions, and increased volatility in Japanese and U.S. financial markets, interest rates, and the yen-dollar exchange rate. The United States already has banned imports of certain vegetables and milk from the vicinity of the damaged nuclear reactors and is monitoring other foods for radiation.
For our diorama, we have made a room wherein a person is comfortably sitting on his chair and looking at the dock and other debris which entered the west coast, on his television screen. We have also included The Muse of Tragedy. The muse is there in the room as a wall hanging painting it does contribute to the interior but mainly it is there to look at the tragedy which has taken place. We decided to use real water to make it look like an ocean. And we used saw dust as the sand on the beach.
