Monuments for the future

Idea for debate: organise a network of long-term art projects or projects to inspire a long view, long term thinking

Why start a network of long-term projects?

for discussion: the projects should

have been set up with the express intention to continue for a long time (say: 100+ yrs?)
create something that can be experienced
have structures designed to continue beyond the lifetime of their initiators
continue to be transmitted, developing, or be actively maintained (not static and just being repaired from time to time, not only talking or influencing)
be open (accessible to the public as well as inclusive, not limited to specific groups)
for public benefit (rather than for profit of specific people or groups)
refrain from predicting or defining a future in specific terms
seem harmless (have a low risk of making undesirable outcomes likely)

Longplayer represented by Longplayer Trust
Letters of Utrecht, represented by St. Letters van Utrecht
Time Pyramid (Zeitpyramide) in Wemding, Germany (1993-3183), represented by
10,000 year Clock of the Long Now, represented by the Long Now Foundation
Bogomir Ecker's Stalactite Machine / Tropfsteinmachine, Kunsthalle Hamburg/Germany (1996-2496) represented by Tropfstein e.V.
ORGAN2/ASLSP As slow as possible (Cage) - Halberstadt/Germany (2001-2640)
Future Library, Katie Paterson (2014-2114)
7000 Oaks (Joseph Beuys, 1982 - 1987 & growing since - Foundation supporting its maintenance
Nathan Wittstock's Primebot (2013) “Every prime number, eventually. (Or the heat death of the universe; whichever happens first.)” - if there is an organization behind it to secure continuation
Millenium camera, Jonathon Keats (2015-3015) if there is an organisation or ongoing effort stewarding the project and working to ensure the image is eventually developed

Voyager probes (1977) and Pioneer 10&11 probes that left our solar system with messages and will take millions of years to pass other stars. Voyager’s golden disk is accompa-nied by Jimmy Carter’s message: “We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations.”)
Nuclear waste storage
- Onkalo/Olkiluoto repository in Finland

Rebuilding shrines in Japan every so often
- Grand Ise Shrine, every 20 years
- Other Shinto shrines

Maintaining old buildings
- Japanese Shrines other than Shinto Shrines
- Cathedrals
- Great Wall of China (on tourist sites)
- Pyramids

Efforts to conserve archaeological artefacts for posterity (e.g., re-burying ancient footprints)
Strategies to adapt to climate change (Dutch Delta Works planning for 2m sea level rise by 2200)
Legal and philosophy
- Legal documents that refer to posterity such as magna carta and US constitu-tion, the Welsh Well Being of Future Generations act of 2015
- Philosophical and academic work, Tremmel’s theory of intergenerational justice, Jonas Salk’s Good Ancestors, long-term consequentialist / utilitarian work

Concepts for not-yet-realized projects involving the long term
- Greg Blonder’s TiWalkMe
- Open Architect’s Burial Belt

Time capsules
- Register of time capsules on not-forgotten
- Moon Ark Moonarts.org
- Cryopreservation ?
- …

University courses
- UC Berkley course Thinking like a Good Ancestor (from Syllabus: “we propose to translate the notion of ancestry from the domain of genealogical legacy to the context of techno-logical development and innovation … Through the new concept of Ancestry Thinking, this course will propose ideas to broaden our understanding of the technological ecosystem we live in. Throughout the semester we will discuss ways to internalize what would otherwise remain as externalities or byprod-ucts of tech developments. Our goal is to enable future tech practitioners to build holistic narratives around their developments”)

Old skills (Communication, Hunting, Agriculture, ...)
Ancient art (Cava de los Manos, Lasceaux, La Ferrassie, Diepkloof, Blombos, Maltravieso, Bhimbetka)
Ancient buildings (Stonehenge, Pyramids, …)