Chapter 5 Formless Emblem (Testimonial)

"The purpose of a MEmorial is to witness and testify regarding the event of a public problem, to shift it from the private, individual status of one at a time, each case in isolation, to a cumulative public status of sacrifice on behalf of an unrepresented national value."(136)
The same theme has been repeated time and again. I feel now I can to some degree sense Ulmer's feelings. It seems that by simply repeating,he can time again be assured that he condensed his ideas and offered certain significance to the goal of establishing the MEmorial and placed the urgency to the utmost.
By introducing the case of child abuse, he discussed the purpose of using disaster as a means of conveying an idea or belief and how one can invite it into the minds of the public by a step by step design of the MEmorial.
"The emblem is a specific device used within the allegorical mode."(124)
"The formless operations(base materialism,horizontality,pulse,entropy) bring abject experiences into discourse without uplifting them into beauty or significance.(132)
Somehow the specific case of the plunging a child headfirst into a toilet makes me think about the TV programs, which are flooded with the bloody scenes and violence. Last night when I was searching for a TV program, I said I'd like to find an easy one without blood or gun. But that is not so easy since you never know when such scene will suddenly fly into your eyes if you fix your eyes on the movie or the TV series channels. I guess somehow it is like the child abuse case. The directors of TV and movies routinely but abruptly plunge the audience headfirst into the cultural toilet simply to pursue their own understanding of the market needs.
The Electronic Monument is a great project and needs actions. Only when one fully understands the meaning and value of such project can he be alert to what happened around and figure out how to arouse the public awareness so that a best way of resolving or preventing the disaster could be reached.