SITE. SURROUNDED BY A VAST CLIFF-SCAPE, THE DESIGN IS LOCATED ON A REMOTE BEACH IN SALEM, MASSACHUSSETS. THE REASON FOR CHOOSING THIS SITE WAS NOT ONLY FOR THE SCENIC LOCATION BUT BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PORTS WHERE SLAVES ARRIVED TO AMERICA. THE REMOTE NATURE OF THE SITE IS FITTING FOR THE SUBJECT AND OFFERS A UNIQUE SPIRITUAL SETTING, ONE THAT DOESN’T FEEL CONTRIVED AND COULD NOT BE ACHIEVED IN A MAJOR CITY. PAVILLION. THE INITIAL REQUIREMENT FOR THE PAVILLION IS TO ACT AS A VISUAL POINT OF REFERENCE. SITUATED ON A BEACH, OTHER WISE BEREFT OF OBJECT, THE PAVILLION OFFERS THE ONLY SHELTERED SPACE ON THE SITE AND BECOMES A GATHERING POINT FOR POTENTIAL VISITORS. CONSTRUCTED FROM A NATIVE AFRICAN WOOD IN TRIBUTE TO THE SLAVES THAT SUFFERED IN THIS AREA, THE MODEST DESIGN OF THE PAVILLION ALLOWS STRONG CONNECTIONS TO BE RETAINED WITH THE BEAUTY OF THE SURROUNDING SITE. THE DESIGN REMAINS INTENTIONALLY MODEST, AS I DON’T FEEL A DESIGN BOASTING EXTRAVAGENCE OR COMPLEXITY COULD APPROPRIATELY ADDRESS THE BRIEF WITH THE SAME SIGNIFICANCE. HOWEVER, ALTHOUGH THE DESIGN APPEARS TO SIT SILENT AND MODEST IN THE LANDSCAPE, THE ELONGATED ROOF OF THE PAVILLION ADDS A COMPLEX TWIST, HIDDEN FROM THE USER, TO THE STRUCTURAL STABILITY OF THE DESIGN. DESPITE THE BLATANT INPRACTICAL NATURE OF THE ROOF, IT WAS A NECESSARY ADDITION TO SATISFY THE NARRATIVE OF THE DESIGN. AS THE STRUCTURE STANDS UNDER A CONSTANT FORCE TO SUPPORT THE EXAGGERATED LENGTH OF THE ROOF, THE USERS SHELTERING UNDERNEATH REMAIN UNAWARE. THE NARRATIVE OF THE BRIEF ENVELOPES SIMILARITIES TO THE ONE INWHICH SLAVES IN AMERICA FOUND THEMSELVES LIVING DAY AFTER DAY. AS THEY WORKED TO FULFIL THE WISHES OF THEIR AMERICAN NEIGHBOURS, THEY WERE ALSO FORCED TO OVERCOME MUCH TOIL AND TORMENT FOR A MERE EXISTENCE IN THE COMPANY OF THEIR AMERICAN COUNTERPARTS. HOWEVER, IN A PRACTICAL SENSE, AS THE ONLY COVERED AREA ON THE SITE, THE PAVILLION WILL HOUSE WEEKLY DEBATES AND DISCUSSIONS REGARDING THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF SLAVERY. THESE TALKS WILL BE ATTENDED BY VOLUNTARY, LOCAL HISTORIANS TO LEAD THE DISCUSSIONS AND OFFER A DEGREE OF EXPERTISE TO THE EVENT. THESE DISCUSSIONS WILL BECOME THE FOREMOST LEARNING ASPECT IN MY DESIGN. AS VISITORS ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE EDUCATED BY LOCAL EXPERTS ON THE SUBJECT OF SLAVERY, BOUNDARIES CONTINUE TO BE BROKEN AS VARIOUS RACES, RELIGIONS AND CULTURES ARE EXPOSED TO ONE ANOTHER ON A FRIENDLY COMMUNAL BASIS. STEEL CRABS. AS ALSO SHOWN ON PAGE 5, THREE OF THESE CRAB-LIKE STRUCTURES SIT AT THE BED OF THE OCEAN SUPPORTING THE ROCKS THAT RISE ABOVE THE SURFACE. IT IS ALSO THEIR JOB TO DISPOSE OF THE REMNANTS THAT EVENTUALLY FALL IN TO THE SEA WHEN THE SCULPTURES COLLAPSE TO INSTANTLY REPLACE THEM WITH A NEWLY ENGRAVED PIECE AND THEN PROCEED TO SUPPORT THE NEW SCULPTURE FOR THE NEXT YEARS TO COME UNTIL ITS EVENTUAL DEMISE. THESE MECHANICAL STRUCTURES PERFORM IN HONOUR OF THE MARGINALISE SOCIETIES WHO CONTINUE TO WORK TIRELESSLY IN AMERICA AND CONTINUE TO RECEIVE EXTREMELY LITTLE IN REWARD. THE MODEST EXISTENCE OF THESE STRUCTURES UNDER THE OCEANS SURFACE IS REFERENTIAL TO THAT OF THESE CULTURES AND THE LIFE THEY ARE FORCED TO LIVE ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’ OF MODERN SOCIETY. THESE MACHINES EXPOSE AMERICA’S PROBLEMATIC, SUPERFICIAL LIFESTYLE. THEY ARE MADE TO REMAIN OUT OF SITE AS SLAVES OF MODERN SOCIETY, AND PRESENT THE OBJECTS OF ‘VALUE’, THE SCULPTURES THAT RISE ABOVE. BALLOONS. ATTACHED TO A HIDDEN STEEL BAR ON TOP OF THE ROOF OF THE PAVILLION, A CLUSTER OF MULTI-COLORED BALLOONS ACT AS PART OF THE SAME NARRATIVE AS THE PAVILLION ROOF. ALTHOUGH THEIR APPEARANCE IS MERELY TOKEN, AS THEY OBVIOUSLY CANNOT LIFT THE WEIGHT OF THE ROOF, THEY ARE SYMBOLIC OF THE STRENGTH DISPLAYED BY EACH INDIVIDUAL SLAVE DURING SUCH A TRAUMATIC PERIOD. A SYNTHESIS EXISTS BETWEEN THE BALLOONS AND THE PAVILLION IN PORTRAYING A NARRATIVE THAT SEES THE COLLECTIVE EFFORTS OF THE BALLOONS OVERCOME THE IMPOSSIBLE FORCE OF THE STRUCTURE PULLING THEM DOWN. WHEN UNDERNEATH THE ROOF OF THE PAVILLION, THE MERE SOUND OF THE BALLOONS THRASHING AGAINST ONEANOTHER IN THEIR BATTLE AGAINST THE WIND BECOMES THE ONLY REMAINING SIGN OF THEIR EXISTANCE. THIS EXISTENCE PORTRAYED BY THE BALLOONS MAKES ANOTHER SMALL REFERENCE TO THE MARGINALISED NATURE OF LIFE AS A SLAVE AND THE TURMOIL THEY WERE MET WITH WHILST AMERICAN CITIZENS CONTINUED THEIR LIVES IN IGNORANCE. HOWEVER, ALTHOUGH STRONG FORCES ARE EXHERTED ON THEM BY PREVAILING WINDS FROM THE SEA, THIS REALITY DOES NOT DWINDLE THE POWER OR SINCERITY OF THE NARRATIVE. THE FACT THAT THE BALLOONS WILL NOT REMAIN TEATHERED TO THE ROOF FOREVER UNLESS ATTACHED IN A WAY THAT OFFERS SOME VIABLE PERMANENCE WAS PREVIOUSLY ANTICIPATED. I BELIEVE THAT THE UNPREDICTABLE NATURE OF THEIR DEPARTURE IMPLIES CONNOTATIONS OF A HUMANS ASCENT TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH, THUS OFFERING A POETIC END TO THE NARRATIVE. SO THE BALLOONS WILL REMAIN CRUDELY TIED TO THE STRUCTURE, INVITING THEIR INEVITABLE DEPARTURE. TO COMPENSATE THE LOSS OF EACH BALLOON HOWEVER, A LOCAL VOLUNTEER WILL BE ELECTED TO REPLACE EACH ONE THAT IS LOST AS A RE-OCCURRING GESTURE TO THE SLAVES THAT HAVE SUFFERED DURING THEIR TIME IN AMERICA. ROCK SCULPTURES. THREE ‘BOARD WALKS’, CONSTRUCTED BY A TOUGHENED STEEL MESH, WILL SUBSEQUENTLY BE GREETED BY THREE GRAND MONOLITHS AT THEIR END. SCULPTED FROM A NATIVE AFRICAN SOFT ROCK, THE SCULPTURES WILL FEATURE MULTIPLE ENGRAVINGS ON THEIR WESTERN FACE. THESE ENGRAVINGS WILL DEPICT HEROIC FIGURES AND KEY HISTORICAL EVENTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST SLAVERY IN AMERICA. HOWEVER, DUE TO THE INNATE SOFT QUALITY OF THE ROCK, OVER TIME (ESTIMATED AT FIVE YEARS), THE SCULPTURES WILL ERODE FROM THEIR EASTERN FACE DUE TO CONTINUOUS PUMMELING FROM THE OCEANS WAVES. SIMILAR TO THE PAVILLION, A NARRATIVE FORMS HERE THAT SEES A RELENTLESS PROTECTION OF THE USER, THIS TIME FROM THE OCEAN’S WAVES AS THE SCULPTURES ARE FORCED TO TAKE THE BRUNT AND STAND BETWEEN. BECAUSE THEY WILL ERODE FROM THE EASTERN FACE, BARING SIMILARITIES TO CUTTING A TREE, THE SCULPTURES WILL EVENTUALLY COLLAPSE BACKWARD IN TO THE SEA, FINALLY RECEIVING PEACE FROM THE BRITTLE PREVAILING WINDS. ON THE FALL OF EACH ROCK, A NEW SCULPTURE WILL ERECT AS ITS REPLACEMENT, BARING NEW ENGRAVINGS PORTRAYING OTHER FIGURES AND EVENTS FROM THE SLAVERY PERIOD IN AMERICA. SIMILARITIES CAN THEREFORE BE TRANSEFERRED FROM RUDAMENTARY GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS TO THIS MEMORUAL. THE ROCK SCULPTURES FORM A NATURAL, CHANGING EXHIBITION, ALTHOUGH SOMEWHAT LESS FREQUENT. THE ROCK SCULPTURES THEREFORE DELIVER AN INTEGRAL, MEANINGFUL LEARNING ASPECT TO THE OVERALL SCHEME OF THE MEMORIAL.