A monument to the forgotten

[Deleted member 1465]

I had a bottle of wine tonight, because...fuckit.
I sat looking at my little monument to the forgotten.
It was never meant to be such, it was just a paving slab's area of spare stone slabs, bricks, tiles and river stones, all collected from the neighbourhood with nowhere else to go.
So they all got placed together. A weird juxta position of cultural items and ancient geology, mixed in with all the odd tat I've found on my scavenging travels.
Zoom in and have a look. Forgotten items, lost and discarded as rubbish in back streets. Did they once have a story, then were cast out and abandoned? Maybe I identify with that thought, but...
It's also my OCD. Order out of chaos. Look at that pile of eclectic rubbish. It's all aligned to within an inch of its life. Let's be more accurate, to a millimetre. Everything has it's place and some things just want, just scream, to be in a specific place.
And there they are, all together. A little monument to forgotten items, lost, abandoned. A story behind every item.
All of them made me smile when I was roaming the back streets looking for inspiration in other people's rubbish, so I picked them up.
Everyone else has forgotten, but I haven't, because I'm drunk, and when I'm drunk I remember, even if it's someone else's memory.
Nothing is ever forgotten.

 

[XYZ]

I like the pinecone man. And the stones feel soft somehow.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

The pinecones were added by my brother. They open and close depending on the weather and act as a barometer for what is coming. The river worn stones are indeed a soft and natural counterpoint to the cut slabs, bricks and tiles. They also act to support and frame the plant pots that I use for seeds.
This weird sculpture says more about me than anything I could write. I don't even know why I'm posting it. Maybe I'm drunk and I want to be understood as we all do. Words fail, most things fail. This odd sculpture is me.
Zoom in if you are curious.
I guess I'm reaching out here. I don't know how else to do it.

 

[AllReturnsToNothing]

That was beautiful. And the monument is beautiful. You brought all these forgotten items together so that they could be together and create something wonderful that's worth more than the sum of their parts. I used to feel like those forgotten objects too. I had my place and felt like I was a part of something greater and wonderful just like this monument. But the winds of time separated us and now I feel forgotten again. I hope we can find our wonderful monuments someday just like those weathered old stones.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

That was beautiful. And the monument is beautiful. You brought all these forgotten items together so that they could be together and create something wonderful that's worth more than the sum of their parts. I used to feel like those forgotten objects too. I had my place and felt like I was a part of something greater and wonderful just like this monument. But the winds of time separated us and now I feel forgotten again. I hope we can find our wonderful monuments someday just like those weathered old stones.

Thank you. That's a wonderful response. That is exactly my sentimental purpose: for all the forgotten things to make something new to be remembered.
I once had my place too and now I can never return. I hope you can find your place again someday.

 

[Lorntroubles]

How nice. You take them in and give them life.

 

[Brick In The Wall]

Very zen like, I really like it! I can only imagine how many times you measured all of that

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Very zen like, I really like it! I can only imagine how many times you measured all of that

lol yeah it's hard to describe, but with my OCD, everything has its place that it wants to be in, in relation to everything else. If it's slightly out then it creates stress, but when it slots into its place I find it strangely fulfilling. You have no idea how may times I rearranged those stones before I was happy. When someone just dumps stuff it freaks me out. Even my rubbish pile has to be arranged.
I sometimes swear at myself for being properly insane when this obsession takes over my life, then sometimes I sit there staring at something like this odd sculpture at it gives me joy.
OCD is weird and horrible and also gives me crazy attention to detail and organisational and design skills.

 

[Brick In The Wall]

lol yeah it's hard to describe, but with my OCD, everything has its place that it wants to be in, in relation to everything else. If it's slightly out then it creates stress, but when it slots into its place I find it strangely fulfilling. You have no idea how may times I rearranged those stones before I was happy. When someone just dumps stuff it freaks me out. Even my rubbish pile has to be arranged.
I sometimes swear at myself for being properly insane when this obsession takes over my life, then sometimes I sit there staring at something like this odd sculpture at it gives me joy.
OCD is weird and horrible and also gives me crazy attention to detail and organisational and design skills.

I completely understand as I have some OCD tendencies myself. I think some level of it is good in that it helps you keep things organized and clean.

My OCD tendencies are with weird things like hobbies and numbers. I keep statistics in my head of how many times I've done certain things. Certain numbers are more satisfying for me as well.

In terms of my hobbies I become a downright perfectionist. But it has helped me develop some level of talent in my various hobbies so I won't complain.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I completely understand as I have some OCD tendencies myself. I think some level of it is good in that it helps you keep things organized and clean.

My OCD tendencies are with weird things like hobbies and numbers. I keep statistics in my head of how many times I've done certain things. Certain numbers are more satisfying for me as well.

In terms of my hobbies I become a downright perfectionist. But it has helped me develop some level of talent in my various hobbies so I won't complain.

I think you are right. These things can be both a positive and a negative thing at the same time, at least up to the point where they start to take over your life.

 

[Funkymonks]

Omg this is class, I love this collection of forgotten things.
my favourite thing apart from the toothbrush is the statue of the north wind, but then again it looks like Bacchus the wine god!
I love it

 

[AllReturnsToNothing]

lol yeah it's hard to describe, but with my OCD, everything has its place that it wants to be in, in relation to everything else. If it's slightly out then it creates stress, but when it slots into its place I find it strangely fulfilling. You have no idea how may times I rearranged those stones before I was happy. When someone just dumps stuff it freaks me out. Even my rubbish pile has to be arranged.
I sometimes swear at myself for being properly insane when this obsession takes over my life, then sometimes I sit there staring at something like this odd sculpture at it gives me joy.
OCD is weird and horrible and also gives me crazy attention to detail and organisational and design skills.

The way you described your OCD, I wonder if that's where the art of feng shui comes from. Like I mean I wonder if folks living in ancient China thought the same way that you do now and it's where the tradition came from. I'm not trying to romanticize your illness or anything (hell knows too many people romanticize my illness) I just couldn't help but notice the similarities between how you described it and feng shui.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

The way you described your OCD, I wonder if that's where the art of feng shui comes from. Like I mean I wonder if folks living in ancient China thought the same way that you do now and it's where the tradition came from. I'm not trying to romanticize your illness or anything (hell knows too many people romanticize my illness) I just couldn't help but notice the similarities between how you described it and feng shui.

No, indeed, I've noticed the parallel too. Things have a place where they belong. Isn't that the core of Feng Shui? Lol maybe I should become a Feng Shui consultant!
I love working with stone, you should see me building a dry stone wall, takes me ages because every stone has its place and when it finds it, it's as if the stone screams at me.

 

[falloutcarter13]

If it means something to you and you put effort into making it, its true art. This is the very essence of artwork. I'm glad I clicked on this. No matter what happens to your little monument, it existed in this moment of time, people saw it and appreciated it. Cool on you!

 

[Deleted member 1465]

If it means something to you and you put effort into making it, its true art. This is the very essence of artwork. I'm glad I clicked on this. No matter what happens to your little monument, it existed in this moment of time, people saw it and appreciated it. Cool on you!

Well, thank you, that is very sweet to say. You make me glad I shared it. I'm even going to bookmark your kind comment for future inspiration.
I think I'm actually going to do a bit of reading on Feng Shui too...
Feng Shui appears to be Taoist furniture magick! Hahaha, cool.

 

[TAW122]

Nice picture there. I like the background with the plants and rocks around it. Also, whatever floats your boat and whatever the monument means to you is all that matters.