The monolith movement sweeping across the globe began in November 2020. Wildlife biologists, while surveying vast deserts in Utah, discovered a never-before-seen metal sculpture deep within a canyon on vast, untouched land. Dubbed a monolith by the Utah Department of Public Safety, an image of the rectangular pillar was posted online without an exact location. Intrigued by the mysterious object, particularly its similarity to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, many individuals set out on a hunt for the monolith in the Utah desert.
Within days, someone managed to locate the monolith and subsequently send out the GPS coordinates for others to do the same. This treasure hunt seemed harmless enough: one could drive out to a remote Utah location, with little risk of viral spread, to view a sculpture with an unknown origin. People enjoyed speculating on the mysterious arrival of the monolith and visiting the object together, with one hiker describing it as a “positive escape from today’s world.” However, as the hunt for the monolith grew, it sparked concerns.
The beloved Utah monolith vanished one night about two weeks after it was discovered. The individuals responsible for its removal eventually came forward, revealing their reasons:
We removed the Utah Monolith because there are clear precedents for how we share and standardize the use of our public lands, natural wildlife, native plants, fresh water sources, and human impacts upon them. The mystery was the infatuation and we want to use this time to unite people behind the real issues here— we are losing our public lands— things like this don’t help.The monolith removers went on to emphasize the trash and human feces left in the desert surrounding the monolith, along with the use of vehicles across the unpaved landscape. Although the removers faced backlash online, their actions raised important issues concerning public land in the United States.
The Utah monolith existed on land that was part of the Bears Ears National Monument until 2017, when former President Trump reduced the national monument land by 85%. Public lands were particularly targeted during the Trump administration, with development valued over environmental and indigenous land preservation. As public lands, especially in the West, are reduced by the government, individuals pose a threat to the destruction of the remaining lands.
The sudden flock of humans to the outdoors is further evidenced in various corners of the nation. A blog post last week highlighted the consequences of re-opening a California state beach to recreational drivers after endangered birds expanded their habitat while visitors were away. Similarly, trees in Joshua Tree National Park were vandalized during the government shutdown at the beginning of 2019. Consumption of rural public lands was discussed further in blog posts here and here.
Even though the Utah monolith is gone, its legacy lives on. Since November 2020, more than one hundred and ninety monoliths emulating the original one in Utah have sprung up internationally, with the most recent monolith discovered in rural Turkey last week. Some of the monoliths, like the one in Utah, appeared in rural and remote areas where a human footprint was small. Yet others arose in easily accessible cityscapes. And much like the Utah monolith, many have disappeared as quickly as they appeared.
We may never know how the Utah monolith arrived, whether it was placed by aliens or is the work of an unacknowledged artist, but its continued emulation serves as a reminder of the fragility of the natural environment and the importance of its continued protection.
3 comments:
This was such a fun piece, and I would never think to tie the monuments to rural ideas. I remember seeing information about a gingerbread monument in San Francisco around Christmastime, and hearing about the mysterious desert monument. I wonder if rural communities have been impacted at all by this monument-tourism, and if monuments have been showing up more often in less populous areas. Thanks for a great light read, Melissa!
I've always wished that more art projects like this would be done. Kind of reminds me of the Pokemon Go craze, which gave people a reason to interact with their environment in a novel way.
Whether or not the monolith should've been removed is a fun debate too. I don't see how removing the monolith would place greater emphasis on the important issue of public land attrition. Once public land is converted to private property it becomes unlikely that the land will ever be for public use again. That said, it seems like the monolith likely attracted some Americans who have never visited a national park before, which could increase public support for preserving public lands. The removers seem like gatekeepers who are peeved at the increased foot traffic to the monolith grounds.
This was a very interesting read, Melissa! I was intrigued by the connection between the removal of the Utah Monolith and the issue of public lands. The mystery drawing people to the monolith brought to the public’s attention an important issue regarding the nation’s natural environment. I admire the way in which the monolith brought people out to the land and outside of their homes to see the public lands that are being reduced. It allowed them to appreciate, in person, the lands the monolith was bringing attention to. Thank you again for a great post!
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