What It Means: Myth, Symbol, and Archetype in the Third Millennium, Vol. 1
book; aLOKSAK element-proof, military-grade protective bag; ammunition case; fidget spinner; copper strip
book copyright 2019; installation copyright 2020
What It Means (WHIM), by Laurie McDonald writing as Eva Rome, is a collection of essays that examines how myth, symbol, and archetype manifest in everyday American life in the early third millennium. WHIM was written for readers interested in history, communication, language, human behavior, philosophy, anthropology, and cultural studies, and is also intended to be a time capsule text for future readers curious about life back in the CE 2,000s. From the not too distant future to the end of the twenty-first century and beyond, What It Means will be a source for readers to gain insights into, what will likely seem to them, the peculiarities of an earlier time.
From generation to generation, the world’s myths, symbols, and archetypes express their timeless qualities in compelling and uniquely contemporary ways, and What It Means interprets and illuminates this phenomenon for today. Included in the WHIM collection are essays on topics such as “The Roller Coaster Ride as Aristotelian Narrative,” “Indoor Skydiving and Dreams of Flying,” “Fidget Spinners,” “Car Wash as Surrogate Purification Ritual,” and “Acoustic Weapons.” What It Means shows that ancient stories, archetypes, symbols, and ideas can all be found in the contemporary, providing (at least a few of) the answers to our sometimes confusing, sometimes chaotic existence.
What It Means is both a work of literature and an art installation. The artist’s intent is that WHIM be buried after reading, and the video below is a record of eight time capsule burials, in undisclosed locations around New Mexico, by Laurie McDonald assisted by Mark Dayka. Included in each time capsule, an ammunition box, is a copy of WHIM, a fidget spinner, and a strip of copper, the element a metal detector can best locate.
For those who enjoy burying objects for future discovery, you may purchase WHIM along with an aLOKSAK element-proof, military-grade protective bag here: https://www.whatitmeansthebook.com/order. After reading WHIM, please place the book in its protective bag and consider burying it in a location meaningful to you. If you’re remodeling your house or place of business, install WHIM in a wall, under some floorboards, or in the ceiling. Bury it in your backyard or along a favorite hike. And even though the aLOKSAK is waterproof to two hundred feet, please resist the temptation to consign WHIM to a body of water. Since time capsules tend to get lost, please provide GPS coordinates of the book’s burial site so that a record may be kept of all of WHIM’s time capsule locations. Send these coordinates to: bluemorphopress.nm@gmail.com.
GPS locations of all burial sites will be disclosed at a future date.
book; aLOKSAK element-proof, military-grade protective bag; ammunition case; fidget spinner; copper strip
book copyright 2019; installation copyright 2020
What It Means (WHIM), by Laurie McDonald writing as Eva Rome, is a collection of essays that examines how myth, symbol, and archetype manifest in everyday American life in the early third millennium. WHIM was written for readers interested in history, communication, language, human behavior, philosophy, anthropology, and cultural studies, and is also intended to be a time capsule text for future readers curious about life back in the CE 2,000s. From the not too distant future to the end of the twenty-first century and beyond, What It Means will be a source for readers to gain insights into, what will likely seem to them, the peculiarities of an earlier time.
From generation to generation, the world’s myths, symbols, and archetypes express their timeless qualities in compelling and uniquely contemporary ways, and What It Means interprets and illuminates this phenomenon for today. Included in the WHIM collection are essays on topics such as “The Roller Coaster Ride as Aristotelian Narrative,” “Indoor Skydiving and Dreams of Flying,” “Fidget Spinners,” “Car Wash as Surrogate Purification Ritual,” and “Acoustic Weapons.” What It Means shows that ancient stories, archetypes, symbols, and ideas can all be found in the contemporary, providing (at least a few of) the answers to our sometimes confusing, sometimes chaotic existence.
What It Means is both a work of literature and an art installation. The artist’s intent is that WHIM be buried after reading, and the video below is a record of eight time capsule burials, in undisclosed locations around New Mexico, by Laurie McDonald assisted by Mark Dayka. Included in each time capsule, an ammunition box, is a copy of WHIM, a fidget spinner, and a strip of copper, the element a metal detector can best locate.
For those who enjoy burying objects for future discovery, you may purchase WHIM along with an aLOKSAK element-proof, military-grade protective bag here: https://www.whatitmeansthebook.com/order. After reading WHIM, please place the book in its protective bag and consider burying it in a location meaningful to you. If you’re remodeling your house or place of business, install WHIM in a wall, under some floorboards, or in the ceiling. Bury it in your backyard or along a favorite hike. And even though the aLOKSAK is waterproof to two hundred feet, please resist the temptation to consign WHIM to a body of water. Since time capsules tend to get lost, please provide GPS coordinates of the book’s burial site so that a record may be kept of all of WHIM’s time capsule locations. Send these coordinates to: bluemorphopress.nm@gmail.com.
GPS locations of all burial sites will be disclosed at a future date.