Why a keyboard monument was erected in Yekaterinburg

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Creatively minded artists are definitely changing the face of cities for the better. In Norway there is a monument to a paper clip, which was once invented there, in the USA a monument to peanuts pleases passers-by with a white-toothed smile. In the Russian city of Tomsk, a monument to slippers flaunts, St. Petersburg sculptors immortalized bread in bronze, and Krasnodar residents placed a huge granite purse at the crossroads (its stone twin lies in the Austrian city of Melbourne). In this non-standard row there is a monument to the keyboard, which was installed in Yekaterinburg.

A bit of history

Whatever we do at the computer, we invariably use this convenient and familiar device. The grandmother of the modern keyboard was “born” in the century before last with the invention of a mechanical device with a set of keys, when pressed, the corresponding sign was printed on paper. At first, the characters on the buttons followed each other in alphabetical order, but comfort in typing was achieved only with the QWERTY layout, which continues to "live" on modern keyboardspanels.

Stone ode to "clave"

The idea to create a monument to the keyboard dawned on Anatoly Vyatkin from the Urals. He came up with it while thinking about projects for the annual Long Stories of Yekaterinburg festival. The sculptural composition is located on the embankment of the Iset River. It is a huge replica of a real computer keyboard in a ratio of 30:1. Each of the one hundred and four concrete buttons weighs from one hundred to five hundred kilograms and is at the same time benches on which you can sit down and relax. Symbols are applied on the surface of the concrete buttons, as it should be. Between them there are gaps of 15 centimeters. The author worked on his brainchild for about a month, another week the monument to the keyboard was installed with the help of special equipment. The opening of the original sculpture took place in October 2005.

Modern City Brand

The keyboard monument in Yekaterinburg did not impress the official authorities, therefore it does not have the status of a landmark of the Ural capital. However, Yekaterinburg residents have fallen in love with it, who consider it one of the most interesting and informative objects of the city. Travel agencies, without thinking twice, included the monument to the keyboard among the attractions and proudly demonstrate it to guests. It is from the concrete keyboard that the pedestrian route of the Krasnaya Liniya cultural project begins, introducing residents and guests of Yekaterinburg with its history. And, by the way, the monument was included in the top ten most popular and significant places in the city. Moreover, the project is a contender for the title of one ofseven wonders of Russia. The children happily jump on the concrete buttons, learning the Russian and English alphabets along the way. Couples in love make dates here, and young people have long coded the meeting place with a password: “Press on the keyboard.”

Good idea

The author of the sculptural composition Anatoly Vyatkin claims that the monument embodies and perpetuates a new era in the development of human communication. According to the artist, the keyboard is an attribute of the modern feeling of freedom and unity, the ability to feel part of the modern world. Of course, the image of Yekaterinburg wins a lot thanks to this uncomplicated and extremely successful monument, the first land-art sculptural work in the city.

A curious sight is a monument to the keyboard from a certain angle. The photo shows it and the stone house standing on the right, very reminiscent of a system unit. This composition is an inexhaustible source for the imagination of the townspeople, who have already informally renamed the river flowing near the sculpture into the “I-network” and dream of seeing a monument to a modem and a monitor next to a concrete keyboard, and maybe also a computer mouse.