What
MEMO stands for Mass Extinction Memorial Observatory.
The MEMO will be a circular enclosure of Portland limestone open to the sky. Its inside surface will be carved with the images of all the species of plants and animals known to have perished in modern times. It will be both a scientific record of historically extinct creatures and a celebration of the unique liveliness of each of them. The space enclosed will be a forum and theatre in which to examine our relationships with other lifeforms and celebrate the diverse life of this extraordinary planet.
The outside of the MEMO will be decorated with patterned friezes based on the forms of microorganisms, to be carved to a masterplan, by secondary school children and other members of the public. Like bacteria, the success of such decoration will be in its profusion, in the repetition of simple units achievable by non-professionals, but executed by very many hands to create a spectacular whole covering the outside of the monument.
All lifeforms on Earth rely absolutely on the successful metabolism of microorganisms. There are more bacterial cells in our bodies than human and we could not digest food without them. In the early history of the Earth microbes precipitated limestone to form 20% of the Earth’s crust, and created the oxygen rich atmosphere we have evolved to enjoy. In the functioning of the carbon cycle today, the continued microbial precipitation of limestone is crucial to the regulation of the global climate. Historically, all architectural form in stone, has been based on the living forms of other creatures. And in his pioneering microscopy work with Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke was, in addition to being the first scientist to suggest species could go extinct, also the first to document the existence of microorganisms:
…the Earth it self, which lyes so near us, under our feet, shews quite a new thing to us, and in every little particle of its matter, we now behold almost as great a variety of creatures, as we were able before to reckon up in the whole Universe itself. Micrographia 1665.
A Stone Petition about the current rate of species loss will become part of MEMO. It will be a conflation of the visitor’s book, the list of donors, the petition, and above all the graffito impulse whereby visitors can carve, or have carved for them, their initials under a symbolic headline.
MEMO will also incorporate a bell to be tolled for extinct species on International Day of Biodiversity, the 22nd May, each year. In May 2008 at the MEMO Micro festival a ‘forerunner’ bell was cast on the cliffs of Portland, sponsored by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s Cathedral. In future years we hope others will join us, perhaps St. Paul’s, which houses the UK’s biggest bell and whose stone was quarried from the cliffs on which the monument will stand. Perhaps the authorities in the capital cities of the nearly 100 countries which already participate in International Day of Biodiversity might also be persuaded to participate in the symbol of tolling bells foe extinct species once a year. Like St. Paul’s Cathedral, the facade of the United Nations building in New York is made of Portland stone. Like all limestones this a material we now understand to be almost entirely comprised of the bodily remains of ancient extinct creatures.
The Hawaiian Haha Tree, designed and carved by Harry Brockway at the first MEMO festival, May 2008.
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