Rise above all odds
Artist Name: Amelia Sobha
Artist Statement
Monuments are very important and have such a great meaning since they have a cultural and historical value in a society or in a country, monuments are created to remember or commemorate different situations or historical events. In our class, we have decided to create a monument that represents and symbolizes the good and tragic events that we have and are experiencing during this pandemic. In a few words, the creation of this monument is what puts in a single image the reality that we face during this global crisis throughout the world. The creation of this project is very important because it makes us reflect and meditate on the value of courage and willpower. First of all, our monument has the purpose of expressing and commemorating the tragedies, painful moments, and the loss of many people who were greatly affected during this crisis. On the other hand, our monument also represents equality between people since during this pandemic we have been able to experience that there are people in this world who create criticism and racism among ourselves and that is why we have to go through unpleasant moments for the simple fact of inequality, either by skin color, religion, etc. There are many values in our monument but one of the main values that our monument represents is positivity. We want our monument to represent more positive than negative values, so it can give a message full of hope and motivation to all when a difficult situation comes. The first thing we think about is to give up and let ourselves be beaten easily but our monument shows that giving up isn’t the only option. From my point of view, the values that our monument represents are the willpower, courage, bravery, and positivism of thinking in a way that leads us forward and helps us to get up when we are falling and also allowing ourselves to be overcome by the difficulties that life gives us.
I also believe that courage and willpower are the strongest and most important values to be able to survive and get ahead when a difficult situation comes into our lives. Knowing how to fight against the difficulties of life makes us stronger and at the same time teaches us the value of things that we have. Sometimes in life, you are up and sometimes you are down, so we have to value what we have and always be humble. Sometimes people think that material things have much more value than anything but in reality, during this pandemic, we have learned the true meaning of valuing our families because they are the ones who will always be by our side, whether in good times or bad. Not even money can buy happiness and moments enjoyed as a family. Being united with the people you love the most is one of the best pleasures in life. Another value that our monument describes is the courage of the people who were on the front lines during this crisis. I feel so grateful for what these heroes did for us because even though while we were all protected in our homes, they risked their lives for ours, that is why our monument also transmits the value of courage and bravery in commemoration to all these helpful people. Also, the creation of this monument explains how each of us survived and overcame the tragic events that we experienced during the pandemic. There is a purpose for which we decided to create this monument together with our workgroup. The purpose of this project is to reach the hearts of all people and make our monument transmit and spread positivity. We want our monument to be a significant attraction for the people who see it and so they know that there is always a way out of our problems. The values that are implanted in this work of art are those that will help us understand that no matter how bad or difficult a situation is, there will always be a solution to our problems, we just have to know how to cope with it and thus we will find a way out. I believe that the location of our monument plays a very important role in reaching people with more force. The location of this monument will be the center of attraction for many people, people who can identify with what this monument symbolizes. In my personal opinion, one of the places with the highest preference for our
monument to be located should be Central Park in New York City, since this is a very touristy place that is visited by thousands of people from all over the world. Therefore, I think this would be the perfect place for all people to take time and see that the creation of this work of art symbolizes the courage of the people who were affected and were victims of this world crisis. To conclude, I just want to give a reflection to everyone and say that with the creation of our monument we have learned a little more about how to handle our problems in life, that we have learned that not everything in life is easy, that we have to learn to value everything we have. Nothing in life is forever so let’s always be humble and help each other as human beings that we are.
