Architecture

The architecture for the Hoover Dam incorporates an art deco theme, utilizing an artistic vision, a structure that comments on a period in time.

During the 1930s the investment in art was made for appearance sake, to demonstrate that no matter how "poor" a people were, art was not only alive but thriving. The building of the dam was a good place to demonstrate this, with its art deco appearance, as well as the interior of the dam, where the tours were planned to take place. The floors are marble using Italian design and Native American symbols to represent a culture that depended on outside traditions to complete it.

On a day every year that people come together to celebrate the American holiday of Independence, it is a good time to remember the interdependence of life, demonstrated graphically at Hoover Dam, through the people that helped build it to the art that represents a time in culture that continues because of its art.

What we recognize as beauty is not ever one man's sole vision though it may be credited as so. That one man is duly interdependent on so many other things---which the architecture of the Hoover Dam and its interior spaces mark the visions of many. A dam which serves many. An icon of American beauty.

Corruption

August, 1931, the mucking crew at the site of the Hoover Dam were fired if they did not accept the wage reduction. They were only making four dollars a day in the first place. Now, the bosses were saying they didn't need the mucking work done since they had trucks to do the labor, so they'd keep everyone on the job but pay them less.

The muckers said, we deserve to be paid as we were, and, like everybody else working on the dam. Besides, muckers pay was the lowest of all already.

The bosses said, you're fired. There's too many other workers lined up ready to take the job. See ya.

The strike ensued. The workers were fired. Then hired back if they had been good workers. For a only a little less than what they had made previously. But again, yes once again, they had a job. They were forced to be happy with these conditions, for there were no other conditions.

What do we do when we feel our backs are to the wall? Kicking and screaming are reasons for ridicule. Doing nothing is a quick way to starvation. These men did what they felt they had to do at that time. It was the best they could, despite the fact it seemed the only thing they could do.

Tying the "best" to the "only" is an existence that must be temporary, for it makes a man weary, resentful, and worst of all, hopeless. Unless of course, the conditions seem to slowly get better...exactly what happened August, 1931.

Dam liberation

We meet the people of the past through their choices. Not just the shoes on their feet or the hat on their head, but how they held and carried themselves.

The people in these photographs are a reminder of something as significant as attraction, notably, liberation.

Liberation can mean believing one does not have to follow the rules or norms but does so anyway. Fashion speaks to this idea often. For the workers on the dam, they too had opportunity for liberation. Surprisingly, it was often by the clothes they wore.

Whether it was choosing the expensive brown Boulder cords, Blue Levi's or Apache leather boots, for a worker to head off to the company store, whip out the scrip (wages paid with credit from the store) it was the choice that mattered. The choice to buy what felt good and seemingly looked fine for the times, and often to each other. A worker didn't have to buy these things yet they represented a kind of liberation that often was not denied.

Without scrip, but dollars or plastic cards, it matters not, we are instilled with the spirit of liberation. And as insidious as it seems, fashion webs us to the attractive past as we find the attractive present--by how we hold and carry ourselves. With the kind of pride learned through the premium of choice.

The Hoover Dam

An art deco dam in the desert built in the 1930's presently bears the name Hoover Dam. To me however, the dam deserves to be called something pastiched, ancient layered by new, like The Waterbydam.
As much as a dam represents the end of a river as it naturally flows, the need for fresh water to keep millions of people hydrated, nourished, fed and clean obviously demands water management. Look at any ancient civilization and you'll find that when water ran out, so did the civilization.
In 1931, the Hoover dam became a project the U.S. government supported by allowing six companies to band together and win a bid to put depression-fueled unemployed men back to work. The work began late spring and was fierce under the desert heat. Backbreaking as well. But hungry men with an ambition to earn their keep found steady work at a pay they felt they had to rationalize. Despite themselves, the dam would be built...