Why in Yekaterinburg installed a monument to the keyboard

Creatively thinking artists, of course, change the face of cities for the better. In Norway there is a monument to a clerical clip, which they once invented, in the United States a white-toothed smile makes the peanut monument happy for passers-by. In the Russian city of Tomsk, a monument to house slippers flaunts, St. Petersburg sculptors perpetuated bread in bronze, and Krasnodar put a huge granite purse at the crossroads (its stone twin lies in the Austrian city of Melbourne). In this non-standard series 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 habitual 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 on which a corresponding sign was printed on paper. First, the symbols on the buttons followed each other in alphabetical order, but comfort in typing was achieved only with the layout of QWERTY, which continues to "live" on modern keyboards.

Stone ode to "clave"

The idea of creating a monument to the keyboard was dawned by the Ural Anatoly Vyatkin. He invented it, reflecting on the projects for the annual festival "Long History of Yekaterinburg". Sculptural composition is located on the embankment of the Iset. It is a huge copy of a real computer keypad in a ratio of 30: 1. Each of the hundred four concrete buttons weighs from one hundred to five hundred kilograms and is both benches, on which you can sit down and relax. On the surface of concrete buttons are, as it should, symbols. Between them there are gaps of 15 centimeters. The author worked on his brainchild about a month, another week a monument to the keyboard was installed with the help of special equipment. The opening of the original sculpture took place in October 2005.

Modern brand of the city

The monument to the keyboard in Yekaterinburg was not impressed by the official authorities, therefore it does not have the status of the sights of the Ural capital. However, he fell in love with Yekaterinburg, who consider him one of the most interesting and interesting objects of the city. Travel agencies, without thinking twice, included the monument to the keyboard in the number of attractions and proudly show it to the guests. It is from the concrete keyboard that the pedestrian route of the cultural project "Red Line" begins, which acquaints residents and guests of Yekaterinburg with its history. And, among other things, the monument entered the top ten most popular and significant places in the city. Moreover, the project is a contender for the title of one of the seven wonders of Russia. Children with pleasure jump on concrete buttons, simultaneously studying Russian and English alphabets. Enamored couples appoint rendezvous here, and the youth have long encoded the place of meeting with a password: "Press on Claudia."

A good idea

The author of the sculptural composition Anatoly Vyatkin asserts that the monument represents and perpetuates a new era in the development of human communication. According to the artist, the keyboard is an attribute of the modern sense of freedom and unity, the opportunity to feel part of the modern world. Of course, the image of Yekaterinburg very much benefits from this simple and exceptionally successful monument, the city's first land art sculpture.

A curious sight presents a monument to the keyboard in a certain perspective. The photo shows her and the stone house standing on the right, very reminiscent of the system unit. This composition is an inexhaustible source for the imagination of the townspeople who have already informally renamed the river that flows near the sculpture into the "I-net" and dream of seeing a monument to the modem and monitor near the concrete keyboard, and maybe also a computer mouse.