Collin Weir

Professor Lauer

HUMA1302

December 12, 2012
<p align="center">The Museum of Pre-Apocalypse Human Culture</p>
As the hiss of the airlock seals the doors behind you, another set of doors lead your way forward into the main lobby of the Museum of Pre-Apocalypse Human Culture. Within these hyperbaric halls are several artifacts and relics of human culture, which still remain though everything else has lost to time. The founder and architect of this museum designed this exhibit in a chronological order, or what he believed to be, since there was no information existing to reference. While in the main lobby there is a Hologram displaying a layout of the museum and where each exhibit is housed. Also in the background you are able to hear the faint melodies resonate down the halls that seem to lure you into Central American, the first of several exhibits.

While walking down the first hall, visitors tromp through dense undergrowth of a Central American jungle that has vine encrusted walls, covered faintly displaying hieroglyphics of some pictorial language. As the brush thins you come into a room that has a pyramidal structure housing an antiquated document at the top. Walking up the steps a holographic guide appears and gives a synopsis of the Popol Vuh, the creation story of the Mayan culture. This document is a collection of Mayan stories spread amongst many Mayan tribes. Threat of extinction motivated the Mayans to compile their beloved myths into a single volume. This book of myths is important, because the language in which it was written in was one of the few fully developed writing languages in the America’s and was the pinnacle of Mayan intellectualism. The stories within the Popol Vuh explain the significance of the earth and the heavens, and the hero’s that go between these two polar worlds. The book explains many of the cultural behaviors of the Mayans and why they valued the things they did. On board this space vessel, it has gained a cult like following, with the members reinterpreting the stories to explain the transition from earth to the void of the heavenly space. It seems that the newer generations on board the ship like the notion of how the Mayans explain time in a cyclical nature, as well as the idea of an afterlife different from other western religions of this era. This work is representative of the new ideas that the new world had to offer, but unfortunately the conquistadores weren’t adept enough to understand what they were trying to destroy. As the hologram fades away, the lights on the floor lead towards another door leading out of this ancient temple into an unlit corridor.

As the guide light on the floor leads the visitor though through the dark, dank hallway, a single light is illuminating the room at the end of the hall. As the visitor enters the room, another holographic guide appears to share the significance of the lone painting on the wall. The painting is “The Philosopher in Meditation” by Rembrandt. This painting is a powerful piece that emanates powerful symbolism to the human psyche. This piece has a stark contrast between the light and the dark, yet these polar opposites harbor its counterpart within them. The crew often adorns their living space with a photo of this painting, since it can be said to signify the light within the darkness of space. The painting is unlike anything else onboard the ship, because it’s impossible to create paints since there is no ground to harvest the pigments and the dyes. The style in which Rembrandt created and perfected during his life is noticeable when you compare this to other works of this era.  While other works from this era exist on board other ships this one is surely the most striking, and most mysterious. The room in which this painting is housed is kept minimal so that nothing detracts attraction from the lone painting. When the information about this painting is done the lights dim and another corridor for exit is lit up.

When the visitor steps into the next hall, the hall is illuminated with antiquated images all seemingly from the same era. They are images of the Great Plains, deserts, and tribe’s peoples. The photos are also credited to a photographer named Timothy O’Sullivan. However as the hall ends, the photos begin to dim as well as there is a single projected imaged on the wall of a sepia toned desert cliff with what looks to be an ancient deteriorated structure. The hologram is this room explains that this image is titled the “The White House”. However this image has brought much confusion to the crew. The image along with other Timothy O’Sullivan photos was found on a primitive USB drive that came from some unknown governmental agency when people were fleeing earth. The current generation believes that this image is actually the white house of the United States where the president stayed after being destroyed my natural disasters and wars. The image however is still revered for its artistic style as well the textures the photographer captured in this shot. And when compared to this artists other shot’s of primitive earthlings and open plains, this one has a more intriguing substance for the viewer to contemplate. Once the viewer is through with this exhibit, the projector fades out and a cacophony of aural frequencies fill the room, which draws the visitor into the final exhibit.

Upon exiting the previous exhibit the lights fade but there is a constant crescendo of the music that the visitor is heading to. Upon entering the dome shaped auditorium, the tones of the music resonate sweetly off the walls to provide audio in stereo no matter where you stand in the room. The hologram directs the visitor to the center of the room where there are several instruments, a primitive computer, and a vinyl disk set displayed. The hologram explains that the music that is playing Sound Tribe Sector 9’s 2005 album Artifact. It goes on to explain that this album was at the pinnacle of self produced music, and the beginning of a fusion of multiple genre’s with electronic. This lone album has influenced the entire escaped earth fleet, and has directed every member to follow suit and create their own sonic orchestras to share with the crew. This music sharing ritual has given way to using electronic frequencies used to communicate as a new medium of art. The self –production also allows for a tremendous amount of personal reflection and expression. The visitor is able to try out the various instruments, with the hologram providing tutorials and information. When the visitor is done enjoying this last exhibit, a secret door opens to reveal a path back into the main lobby of the museum, where the journey through these historical artifacts begun.

With the conclusion of the exhibit the visitor leaves the museum and heads back to their normal crew functions, or hops onboard a transport craft back to their home vessel. This museum travels the outer reaches of our solar system providing a context of why this ship is so far away from its old decrepit and deteriorated home, and what they hope to re-establish on a new home planet one day.