back to article PSA: The 2020 monolith is a dead meme. You can stop putting them up now. Please

You'd hope that a gaggle of racist crackpots storming a mountain to push over an innocent sculpture would be the end of it, but no. The cheeky 2020 monolith continues to sprout globally. Alas, we've committed so let's get this out the way because I'm sure I have more useful work to be doing today, possibly to do with …

  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    If the US art group is valuing them at $45,000 perhaps they'll bill the MAGALouts this amount for the one they destroyed.

    1. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge

      If anyone wants one I'll knock you one up for half that , with a choice of rivets or tig weld

      1. jake Silver badge

        Why bother with TIG? MIG would work just fine for something like this, and it's a lot cheaper.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Mirrored Perspex is the preferred material on the Isle of Wight.

          1. jake Silver badge

            Plastic, thermoplastic, who's quibbling.

            It;s probably not actual Perspex, it's probably it's twin brother, the inexpensive Plexiglas.

  2. HammerOn1024

    So Now

    Dear Register,

    So now you're the meme police? Oh good... can you take care of all the other old moldy meme's that are clogging Reddit?

    /sarcasm

    Go away kid, you bother me.

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      You're the one who clicked the article. If you don't like it, go somewhere else.

    2. jake Silver badge

      Re: So Now

      Out of curiosity, has there ever been anything but memes on reddit? I used to go look, out of curiosity, but I never found anything substantial there.

      1. Franco Bronze badge

        Re: So Now

        The SCCM sub-reddit is actually pretty good and there are a few others. For the most part though it's memes and porn. Kind of like the rest of the internet TBH.

    3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Alien

      Re: So Now

      "Oh good... can you take care of all the other old moldy meme's that are clogging Reddit?"

      The only way is to nuke it from orbit. Otherwise all your base belong to us.

  3. heyrick Silver badge

    maybe, just maybe, this story would have legs.

    You say that in 2020?

    Frankly, all little green men crawling out of the megalith would do is ignite a long and bitter argument as to whether or not we were "right" to depict aliens as humanoid shape.

    The aliens themselves would be uninteresting...after this year...

  4. Steve Foster

    IoW "art" claimed...

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-55227034

    1. Excellentsword (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: IoW "art" claimed...

      Cheers lad

    2. Danny 2

      Re: IoW "art" claimed...

      The mirrored perspex is interesting. My dad's been falling down a lot recently, and is rightly worried about going through the mirrored wardrobe doors in his bedroom. My mum was advised to cover the glass in reflective foil but mirrored perspex is obviously a lot safer, plus it doesn't seem that expensive. Maybe good for households with young children too.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: IoW "art" claimed...

        Just use transparent aluminium with a shiny rear surface.

        I bought mine from some guy with an unconvincing Scottish accent in San Francisco

        1. herman Silver badge

          Re: IoW "art" claimed...

          Transparent aluminium is also known as sapphire/ruby/moon stone/tanzanite etc.

          1. Danny 2

            Re: IoW "art" claimed...

            That's fascinating stuff, but the perspex (like me) is cheap!

          2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

            Re: IoW "art" claimed...

            Those are alumina = Aluminium Oxide

            eg Hydrogen and Hydrogen Oxide are different

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: IoW "art" claimed...

        I think whoever suggested the foil was thinking that it would hold the glass together if he bumped into it rather like a laminated windscreen. Before switching to a mirrored plastic I'd take a hammer to a sample to make sure it doesn't shatter too easily. In fact, take professional advice - I'm sure the safety elves must have looked at this.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: IoW "art" claimed...

          Foil will not hold shards of glass. Fageddaboudit.

          Here in the Western United States, you can get a piece of mirrored Acrylic from Tap Plastics that'll do the job for (probably) under $200. That's with your choice of thickness, rounded corners, pre-drilled holes, finished edges (if required), and cut to your exact measurements. It won't shatter if a human stumbles into it if it is properly backed (most mirrors on wardrobes have solid backing).

          They ship overseas.

          Measure three times before placing your order. Maybe four. And have someone else also make the measurements, and then compare. Don't ask how I know this.

          Not affiliated in any way, just a happy customer, yadda yadda yadda.

          1. Danny 2

            Re: IoW "art" claimed...

            Thanks Jake & Dr Syntax,

            There are decent local manufacturers here. I think Perspex is used the same way as other brand names such as 'doing the hoovering' even if it's a Dyson, or 'speaking over the tannoy' even if it's another public announcement brand.

            I knew foil wasn't safe on glass. If you ever have to break a window quietly then place foil over the outside and then wood cut to fit the glass, then hit the wood. It's a burglar's trick I used as a peace protester but the wood was needed to avoid shards, and that wouldn't work as a mirror.

            I don't have children so this is the first time I've had to 'child proof' a home. Unlike me and my mum my dad refuses to use a sippy-cup, yet he dropped three cups of tea yesterday, so I bought him a manly thermos mug from renowned toolmaker Stanley. I paid extra for the name as I think he'll respect it enough to use it. I bought him a wheeled zimmer frame six months ago and he was so insulted he made my mum return it, hence his falling now. I've been putting up new handrails everywhere, got rid of the bath and put in a wet-room, and bought Alexa dots that he is sometimes able to use. I wanted to get him a smart watch in case he wandered off, but none of them were good looking enough for him and he won't get far now anyway.

            Just before Harry Dean Stanton died aged 91 he made the movie 'Lucky'. What do you do when life leaves you nothing? You smile. But life is less important than memory.

            1. mad_dr
              Pint

              Re: IoW "art" claimed...

              Here's to your dad enjoying living as independently as possible for as long as possible. And one for you for taking care of this stuff. My old man is likely to be just as stubborn and reluctant as yours but I'm sure that, with a little time and adjustment, they'll both figure out a way to get by (and accept a little help along the way).

        2. hoola Silver badge

          Re: IoW "art" claimed...

          There are various mirrored plastics that are specifically for use in gyms & dance studios. There appears to be two distinct types:

          Some sort of acrylic material that is silvered and is cheaper than glass but crucially is not considered "safe" when it breaks. It's main benefits appear to be price and weight.

          A more funky material that is safe when it breaks (or maybe it does not break but just bends) that is okay for these use cases.

          The trouble is the latter is vastly more expensive than the shiny acrylic and in many cases more expensive that a traditional mirror. I believe that the shiny acrylic can be just as dangerous as glass if it shatters.

  5. Chris G

    Reaction

    Having been involved in an art project for a client a few years back, I discovered that in the contemporary art world, if your work provokes a reaction, it qualifies as art.

    Whether the viewer or observer reacts in a good, bad or neutral manner, it is still art.

    Accordingly, a fresh pile of poo on a podium each day would qualify, fortunately these attempts at monotonous monolithic art are slightly less objectionable. Re the copycats, Picasso always maintained that " Good artists copy, but great artists steal."

    1. Danny 2

      Re: Reaction

      Confessions of a Crap Artist

      When I was homeless I got quite good at drawing and painting, I thought so at least but wasn't sure as I hadn't been trained and people are overly polite. I showed some of my stuff to a successful artist to appraise and he just laughed and said, "Oh, I haven't done any of that for decades, I hire people to do that for me." Given he didn't offer me a job I took that as my answer.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Re: Reaction

        Art is anything made by an artist that sells

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Reaction

          I can point you at plenty of art that has never sold, nor been for sale.

          By your definition, "art" is produced by cons to sucker the rubes ... fortunately that's just a sub-set.

        2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: Reaction

          Art is also anything made by an artist studio assistant that sells

    2. jake Silver badge

      Re: Reaction

      "Whether the viewer or observer reacts in a good, bad or neutral manner, it is still art."

      I just put down my coffee cup. The entire planet simultaneously reacted in a neutral manor ... I must be a great artist!!!!

      Alternatively, are you trying to suggest Trump was a Republican attempt at art?

    3. jake Silver badge

      Re: Reaction

      "Picasso always maintained that " Good artists copy, but great artists steal.""

      The perfection of art is to conceal art. —Quintilian

      Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced. —Tolstoy

      1. Chris G

        Re: Reaction

        "Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced. —Tolstoy"

        I would go along with that sentiment.

        The contemporary exhibitions I have been to have a fair percentage of art that fits that quote but a lot of the 'art' seems to be the 'artist' testing the extent of taking the piss and getting away with it.

        Or there are some very troubled artists exhibiting.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Reaction

          "Or there are some very troubled artists exhibiting."

          I think you meant to typo "And there are some very troubled artists exhibiting".

          Yes, that type of so-called "art" is testing the waters, suckering patrons for loot.

      2. Irony Deficient

        Re: Reaction

        The perfection of art is to conceal art. — Quintilian

        In context, Quintilian refers only to the art of the exordium (the beginning of an oration) in a court case — his only surviving work is on rhetoric.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Reaction

          Does the choice of medium make it any less art?

  6. TheProf
    Facepalm

    650 Words

    On how bored you are with something? Nice job.

    And not as funny as the website that argues that Captain Beefheart is SOOOO much better and important than The Beatles.

    1. Howard Sway Silver badge
      Devil

      30 Words

      On how bored you are by someone being bored by something. Even better job.

      The Beatles : "She loves you yeah yeah yeah"

      Captain Beefheart : "A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous"

      Take your pick, quality wise.

    2. jake Silver badge

      Re: 650 Words

      Arguably the Beatles had a massive affect on pop music, but not so much on art in general.

      Van Vliet, on the other hand, positively oozed Art from every pore.

      (Disclaimer: I first saw Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band play at Pinkpop in 1974. It was Art. The Beatles gig at Candlestick in '67 was a gawd-awful commercial scream-fest, and very definitely was not Art.)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 650 Words

        The Beatles live didn't have much relationship with the music of The Beatles (especially by 67). The live shows were noted for the hysterically screaming fans. Cool pop culture moments, sure, but not great musicly. They also had already started to get more experimental in the studio by that point.

  7. chivo243 Silver badge
    Alien

    Three weeks of madness left

    I wonder what the final count of monoliths will be at the end of 2020? Double digits?

    1. Teiwaz

      Re: Three weeks of madness left

      I wonder what the final count of monoliths will be at the end of 2020? Double digits?

      I was kind of hoping monoliths would stick around 'til 2024 and stand for President.

      It'll be a heck of a lot easier to un-install from the Whitehouse in 2028 or 2032 than the recent incumbent.

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Three weeks of madness left

      "I wonder what the final count of monoliths will be at the end of 2020? Double digits?"

      Hopefully not enough to increase the Earths mass to a solar ignition point!

  8. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Tame little steel monoliths

    If you have a properly over sized ego you should make your status symbol wide as a house, 24 storeys tall, bolt on three giant flame throwers to it and put it on display in the sky, higher than Everest.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Tame little steel monoliths

      Holy shit, that's live now. I nearly missed it!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmqQut_How

      EDIT. Never mind. "The biggest hop ever of a Starship prototype" was approx. zero mm. Abort called at the last second :-(

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Tame little steel monoliths

        And in case anyone is interested these two webcams, running 24/7 give you different views.

  9. Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells Silver badge
    Alien

    I'm surprised El Reg haven't covered the Israeli chap claiming that there's a Galactic Federation ( bootnotes, obvs )

    1. jake Silver badge

      There is a difference between ...

      ... speculating about the meaning of a bit of art found in a Utah desert (and subsequent copy-cats around the Northern Hemisphere) and laughing at a poor deluded idiot. One is mildly amusing, at least for a while. The other is just cruel.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: There is a difference between ...

        The poor deluded idiot appears to be former Israeli general and their of space security which may be slightly worrying. He may not be in full possession of his marbles now but was he then?

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: There is a difference between ...

          Has any of the Israeli leadership ever been shown to be in full possession of their marbles?

  10. macjules
    Alien

    So wanted to see

    MAGA goons running away screaming in agony after touching the monolith as COVEFE-20 rapidly consumed them.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Memorials to 2020

    I think these monoliths, not up to anything, going nowhere, yet spreading around the world in spite of efforts to eradicate them, are a fitting memorial to 2020.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    BRITISH!!!

    "However, the Isle of Wight obelisk is of far higher quality than its American counterparts, boasting a "really reflective" surface, according to its discoverer, 29-year-old Tom Dunford"

    RULEZ BRITANNIA! etc...

    What Tom Dunford actually means, is the one he laid eyes on in real life looks more impressive than the one he saw a picture of on a 5" phone screen...

    Like people thinking their opinion on MasterChef/BakeOff eliminations is more valid than the people who actually got to eat the dish.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: BRITISH!!!

      Cheep mirrored plastic glued to wood is obviously much higher quality than properly rivited stainless steel because .... OHHH! SHINY!!

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The initial erection

    I like this line of thinking!

    1. First Light

      Re: The initial erection

      Then you will enjoy the German "monolith" mystery.

      https://nypost.com/2020/12/03/new-phallus-sculpture-pops-up-in-german-mountains-again/

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: The initial erection

        Rather than "pops up", Shirley that should be "propped up"? One pauses to wonder if that's some kind of social commentary in and of itself ...

  14. Scott Broukell
    Mushroom

    Careful now !

    It's all a Vogon art installation that's what it is! They've given up poetry in favor of minimalist sculpture! I suggest we put them all back as they were found and show some appreciation, lest we should bring dire consequences down upon all of humanity!

  15. jake Silver badge

    Matty Mo is waffling ...

    ... notice how he never comes out and says "Yes, we put that bit of Art there in Utah! Here's proof! We are proud of it, and the Feds can't prosecute because Free Speech! Besides, some other twat cleaned up our mess for us! Neener!"

    Also note his backlog of "art" ... not a single piece is anything more than a way to make a quick buck from the rubes. There is no way that this "artist" has the attention-span necessary to wait for five years before cashing in.

    Conclusion: He didn't put the original there, but is planing on making a quick buck off it anyway.

  16. Blackjack Silver badge

    Is this or talking about Corona.

    You don't kill a meme just by saying is dead. It is killed when people stop using it.

    Also, still in lockdown.

  17. Celeste Reinard

    A breath of fresh air

    It is definitively a change from all those black strips of asphalt all over the planet that have no better use than being run over with cars. Or cylindrical holes being bored through even more boring mountains one finds all over the planet, called 'tunnels', that bored people with little imagination use to drive through with a car, while listening to the beatles - as if they have nothing better to do. ... I don't think however it will be the marketing for the (rather boring) zen gardens line from Four Seasons Total Landscaping - unless they are fed up with people trying to attract gnomes with their stuff (when they failed to scare customers away with idiot lawyers from hell being more fun than anticipated). As a precursor for the Second Coming with transdimensional eggs... it surely beats a wooden cross with a (badly dressed) guy nailed to it (it scares the kids). It should be forbidden and persecuted to the full extent of the law when it ends up being an architect (Remco Koolhaas) going Banksy. Thát would be terrible indeed. (And boring.)

  18. martinusher Silver badge

    Its baaack.....

    The local council thought it was such a good idea that they cooperated with erecting another one. This one's got a load of concrete inside it which might make pushing it over a bit more diffciult.

    I was a bit disappointed to read that the structures included rivets. Anything extra-terrestial would probably use somewhat more advanced manufacturing techniques -- rivets are so steampunk (and I bet they were pop rivets -- low rent rivets). Since the structures don't actually do anything I find them a bit pointless.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Its baaack.....

      The rivets are an inexpensive way to stop the weather (or idiots without a drill) from easily wrecking them, as can be seen in the Utah version standing unscathed for a number of years in what is likely a flash-flood water course. Somehow I doubt the glued-onto-wood alternative will make it a full year, much less a storm-driven tide, unscathed.

      Pop-rivets come in a variety of materials, including several types of Stainless Steel, which will cut down on galvanic corrosion. Makes for an inexpensive, long lasting, strong construction material. My grain bins come to mind, several decades old now (I bought 'em used) and no sign of aging.

      1. Danny 2

        Re: Its baaack.....

        My mum's father's father was a riveter on the Forth Bridge - one of the few who survived the job.

        The bridge is still there and working, and painting it became an idiom for any never ending job. They'd paint it from end to end and then have to start again. Although lately with better paint technology it only has to be painted every decade, saving the bridge but ruining the idiom.

  19. Franco Bronze badge

    Oh, good. In a world where Banksy is a celebrity for hiding his identity, making "thought-provoking" art and generally ripping off Blek le Rat we now have a collective of wannabe hipster arseholes copying him.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    "Some of us actually have work to do"

    Clearly not Reg journos, because you're still writing about monoliths.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: "Some of us actually have work to do"

      As opposed to yourself, writing about writers writing about monoliths?

      Note that it's in Bootnotes, which exists for exactly this kind of thing. But that would be telling. Mum's the word, all y'all.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    At least it wasn't an ad..

    I was afraid this was a run-up for a Black Rocket 2.0 campaign.

  22. Big_Boomer
    Facepalm

    Basildon

    Put one up in Basildon and the locals will be worshiping it within seconds. I want to emigrate, to another planet. I'm drowning in morons!

    1. Danny 2

      Re: Basildon

      Actually all the 1960s Scottish new towns came with loads of weird riveted steel 'sculptures'. I think you'll find the worship happens in Shepperton, not Basildon.

      In The Unlimited Dream Company, a man named Blake crashes a stolen aircraft into the River Thames outside the London suburb of Shepperton. Whether he survives the crash, to become a sort of supernatural messiah for the small town, or if he actually drowns, and dying, imagines the whole thing, is never truly revealed.

  23. Fr. Ted Crilly Silver badge

    Naa, naa you need one of these

    'This 50 story statue will be able to deflect alpha, gamma, and beta radiation. The day is coming, and coming soon, when the Artificial Suns will rain down to punish the degenerates of this city. But you can save yourself. The Pastor Richards Salvation Statue will be a completely self-sufficient community. We have canned food rations, private living quarters, and enough supplies to survive happily the predicted 40,000 years of nuclear winter. In phase 2, and with funding from NASA, we will equip this massive statue with rockets. So when the poopy hits the proverbial fan, we will load up the statue with all of the people who saved themselves through generous donations, blast into space, and colonize Saturn with a race of morally correct, affluent people ruled by me.'

  24. Cuddles

    2001

    "a passing resemblance to the alien structure from iconic sci-fi flick 2001: A Space Odyssey"

    Different size, different shape, different colour, different material, different physical properties, different location. As far as I can tell, the supposed resemblance to the monolith in 2001 comes entirely down to the fact that both are somewhat rectangular. A box of Weetabix bears as much resemblance to an alien monolith as these silly "art" projects.

  25. Dave 32

    Obelisks

    Well, heck, we have a bunch of those rectangular obelisks all through rural Kentucky, although most of them are horizontal, rather than vertical. They're mostly painted white, although you can still find some painted avocado green and harvest gold. All of them have a door on one side, but I'd recommend strongly against opening one. If you do, you're sure to be greeted with the smell of moldy cheese or rotting meat.

    Dave

  26. Steven Guenther

    Viral advertisement for new type of Viagra

    Do you want to stand proud as a monolith? Buy our pills!

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