Chipping away tradition
I was walking past University Hall on the brisk, sunny morning of Nov. 30 when I heard a faint chipping sound. After two months living next to Harris Hall, my brain categorized the noise as construction and promptly ignored it. Until I realized the sound was coming from the Rock.
I turned to see a group of students with hammers, screwdrivers and pickaxes beating at the Rock. Not violently, but not gently, either. If I had to pick an adverb, I would say they were beating at it daintily. One student, dressed in black skinny jeans, a wool scarf, and a brown corduroy jacket, threw his axe with a form that only years of never performing physical labor could produce.
One girl must have noticed my slack-jawed stare, because she stepped away from her work to say, “Do you want to feel the Rock?”
Wordlessly, I followed her as she pointed toward what was, indeed, bare rock. Inches of caked paint surrounded the spot. A brilliant array of colors circling a dull patch of ordinary rock.
After a few minutes of dumbly feeling the rock’s surface, I asked, “How — how many years worth of paint is this?”
“Since the ’60s, at least.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, with a tone more pleading than I intended.
And, obviously exhausted from numerous questions and physical labor, she answered with practiced informality.
“We think The Rock is more historical than all the club announcements and birthdays and shit.”
I learned that the group was an independent study dubbed “The Rock Excavation Organization,” and I proceeded to go about my day. Later, I sat in the Unicorn Cafe trying to write a paper on Singaporean English, but my mind kept falling back on the Rock.
Does the Rock itself carry more historic weight than the paint upon it? What is more meaningful: an object, or the tradition associated with this object? The 40 years worth of party announcements, birthdays and the eccentric miscellany (which I’m forced to assume falls under the “and shit” category in the girl’s previous explanation) must have some value. Granted, we would never see these layers, but isn’t there some worth to knowing that this chronology of the past five decades exists just under our noses?
I’m not an art historian. I don’t know how to appraise the worth of anything. But common sense tells me that the Rock’s historical value does not stem from its being a rock. The Rock’s value stems from everything associated with the Rock.
The Rock isn’t necessarily a universally worshipped monument. At best, it’s quirky. At worst, it’s childish. But it’s something we can all reference as a bona fide Northwestern tradition. And everyone who tours our university certainly remembers the painted monstrosity outside University Hall.
Chipping away these layers of paint does not uncover some true historical value. Our historical value is these forty years of words, art, and — as one art historian so eloquently put it — “shit.”
I understand that a chunk of this paint went to the University Archives, but that’s not really the point, is it? The point is that, when we paint our Rock, we connect in some small way to generations of students who’ve done the same thing.
The point is that, when you strip the paint away, all you have left is a stupid rock.
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Relive previous paintings on our Rock On blog. Or you can return home.
I’m not sure why, but this pisses me off. Why the hell would you chip off the paint on the rock? The years of paint is what makes it cool, otherwise it’s just like the billions of other rocks on the planet. Could not agree with the author more. This should be stopped.
unforgivable
December 2, 2009 at 12:38 am
This makes me very sad.
Kate
December 2, 2009 at 12:41 am
why the fuck did they do that?
ht
December 2, 2009 at 12:50 am
Who the hell told them they could do that?
?
December 2, 2009 at 12:55 am
who are these people, and why do they hate fun
what
December 2, 2009 at 1:12 am
What gives these random students the right to do this? Pretentious assholes. The rock is not theirs alone. The entire student body should’ve been consulted. Those students suck.
Student
December 2, 2009 at 1:17 am
Oh, and while you’re at it, why don’t you guys remove all the paint off the rocks by the lake. Because none of those messages mean anything either.
Oh, wait, you just destroyed history. Your art history professors should fail you.
Student
December 2, 2009 at 1:21 am
As long as they sat for 24 hours before chipping it
practical
December 2, 2009 at 1:27 am
I agree with most everyone else– they have NO right. It’s really upsetting and tarnishes an NU tradition.
You’re not deep or “thinking outside the box,” you’re just an asshole.
s
December 2, 2009 at 1:40 am
They took our jobs!!
Jimbo
December 2, 2009 at 1:45 am
the great images are worth it. in a way, it’s sort of a creative way of painting the rock.
if you’ve painted the rock before, you would know that paint chips are always falling off. they really wont be able to get much more off–so it appears. in a month, when it has a few layers of paint are back on it, no one’s going to care that it was at one point “excavated”
this campus could probably be more creative than it is and have some more collaborative student art pieces…
feeling indifferent
December 2, 2009 at 1:50 am
It just seems like they did it for a stupid reason. The fact that it’s a rock is more important than ‘all the club announcements and birthdays and shit’? That’s what gives the rock it’s character. Like you said, if it was just an old rock no one would care about it. It’s what is painted on it that matters. So congratulations, Rock Excavation Organization, for recklessly chipping away at an NU tradition.
A
December 2, 2009 at 1:56 am
Fuck this shit. It was really awesome knowing that there was paint on the Rock that my relatives painted on themselves. The rock became a centerpiece of campus because we could put our ideas and “shit” onto the rock, not because it was some cracked fountain slab. When you paint the rock, you assume that your message going to remain there, not get chipped off by some overzealous asshats.
Remove the fucking rock. It’s worthless now. Thanks fucktards.
Paul G
December 2, 2009 at 1:57 am
It’s not the canvas that gives a painting value.
lm
December 2, 2009 at 2:18 am
I was under the impression that the University buffered it down every year or so to remove the excess paint. I don’t think it’s about the Rock or the paint, anyway, it’s about the idea and the tradition. You can remove the paint, but that won’t take away the fact that someone you knew painted it so many years ago. The rock (little “r”) is still The Rock (big “r”) without all the paint.
MB
December 2, 2009 at 2:40 am
excavating the rock is something that should be done in several thousand years, when the remains of northwestern university are discovered at the bottom of lake michigan. the time is not NOW.
it doesn’t take a genius to realize that it is offensive and inappropriate to destroy several decades of a tradition.
thanks
December 2, 2009 at 3:08 am
I think the rock is meaningless even with the paint on it. People paint it, leave it, forget about it, then the next time they remember it their spot is most likely painted over.
I say down with the rock. Let this group take multiple axes doused in paint thinner to it. I hope nothing remains but a smaller useless rock for drunk frat boys to piss on.
Mark
December 2, 2009 at 3:26 am
Of course if you paint the rock it’s going to be painted over within days.
That’s why doing so is so special. Sure, people do it to advertise shows, birthdays or student groups but once your message is painted over, it stays there forever as a mark on your school and a connection to the hundreds of students who have done the same over the past half century.
Re: Mark
December 2, 2009 at 3:58 am
this breaks my heart.
tears
December 2, 2009 at 4:31 am
Look at pictures 6,7, and 9. Is anyone else concerned that the rock has a bunch of random holes in it now because of these guys?
uhh
December 2, 2009 at 4:41 am
I agree with the “overzealous asshats” remark. The Rock’s tradition is made of those layers of paint and to strip it away is to strip The Rock of its history.
Zorro
December 2, 2009 at 5:24 am
Don’t worry–they’re not peeling off as much paint as they thought. The high school “Cherub” programs like to peel layers of paint off in the summer (although with their hands, not with tools as far as I know). By the way uhh…the rock probably had holes because it used to be a fountain. Learn its pre-paint history. I’m still appalled and angry.
alum
December 2, 2009 at 11:12 am
Did any of you really care about the history of the rock before people started taking the paint off? The point of the paint removal was to get people to think about the history and to uncover at least a bit of a rock that hasn’t seen sunlight for 40+ years. The rock was installed in the 1902 and was first painted in the 1920’s, but the tradition of painting it didn’t start until the 70’s. It was been a water fountain, a meeting place, and a billboard. Maybe it is time to just let it be a rock. Yes, the paint on the rock represents a recent tradition, but the paint isn’t the entire history of the rock; the rock itself is the history. The tradition and history of the rock was not removed with the paint.
Kathryn Floyd
December 2, 2009 at 11:28 am
Read about the history of the rock…
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/architecture/building.php?bid=25
History
December 2, 2009 at 11:32 am
You know, Kathryn, the Hagia Sophia used to be an Orthodox basilica before the Turks converted it to a Mosque (and, most presently, to a museum). Would you make the claim that ‘it’s time for the Hagia Sophia to be a church again’?
Don’t many items of historical purpose evolve over time? Must they be reverted to their earlier state or purpose after such a change has taken place?
Nick Merrill
December 2, 2009 at 11:35 am
I personally think it was really cool to see all the colors and all of the layers. I also stopped by the rock many times that day to see the progress of the organization and all I ever saw were Northwestern students that were excited about the project (some even asked to help.) Not one student told them to stop or spoke negatively about the excavation while I was there. I think that if students have such a big problem with this then now is not the time to express their anger or discuss, it was when you were walking by the rock, saw it happening but chose to move on. Indignation after an event is not the way to create change or put a stop to something. If you don’t like it speak up. If you don’t speak up you have no right to complain after the fact.
Comment on Apathy
December 2, 2009 at 11:39 am
Items of historical purpose do evolve over time. I’m not saying revert the rock; I’m saying maybe we should allow it to evolve. That’s what is happening isn’t it?
Kathryn
December 2, 2009 at 11:40 am
I do not see ruin as a negative thing. First of all, it is clearly not a thing. What else is there to love, anyway? One cannot love a monument, a work of architecture, an institution as such except in an experience itself precarious in its fragility: it hasn’t always been there, it will not always be there, it is finite. And for this very reason I love it as mortal, through its birth and death, through the ghost or the silhouette of its ruin, of my own—which it already is or already prefigures. How can we love except in this finitude? Where else would the right to love, indeed the love of right, come from?
j.d.
December 2, 2009 at 11:48 am
I mean… wonderful history and all, but the rock as a fountain was kindof… boring. Sorry, guys. It still is a meeting place and blah blah blah but for a different reason now. Not that it matters because people are going to continue to paint their “club announcements and birthdays and shit”no matter what you do. So what did you accomplish, exactly? Really, just making the majority of the campus pissed off. Awesome.
CH
December 2, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Let’s be clear. This was not just a random group of students who decided this would be a good idea. A visiting professor decided this would be a good idea and asked her students to participate. Notably, not everyone did. Whenever you come into a community and do an art project, you need to figure out how it will be received. As we have seen, the reception was obviously, and almost universally, bad. Some art should be challenging. The Yes Men challenge people every day, and it works because they actually reinsert ordinary people back into the public eye by broadcasting fake international news. But this is different. You don’t take a landmark that means a lot to people personally and destroy it for laughs.
irresponsible public art
December 2, 2009 at 12:39 pm
The reception was not universally bad. The day of most people were excited and asked to help. I would also like to point out that the people in the pictures were not even in the art class they were random people who wanted to help. Much of the paint that was removed was because of the general student body picking up tools and helping.
T
December 2, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Someone needs to get out there and paint it again!
I would, but this reading week is killing me.
If it still says RFK during finals week, ill get out there myself and repaint it.
I’m thinking: “Don’t chip this paint”
REPAINT
December 2, 2009 at 12:53 pm
This really bothers me and makes me sad for some reason that a group of individuals, and if it is true, a visiting prof can make a decision like this to change years of a schools tradition. In regards to “Comment on Apathy” when a group of friends and I were walking past the rock when this destruction was occurring we did go and talk with them and voice our concern. We were returned with attitude and an air of superiority from this group acting like only they knew what was right for the rock. We asked what their opinions were on the rock being painted again in the future and part members of the group acting like painting over “their” bare rock would be the ones destroying it since it now needs to “breath”.
nu student
December 2, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Really uncool.
nu student
December 2, 2009 at 1:18 pm
The rock looks awesome right now. The gobstopper like layers are extremely interesting and cause us to think about the multi-layered history the walk has endured and will no doubt continue to endure as the rock will be painted over and over again until no one can tell that this even happened. This endeavor has not ruined the rock at all, and just as it is everybody else’s rock too, it is this group of student’s right to take a new approach in modifying its look. The excavation has provided us with a glimpse into the very history that people are defending. This group has simply provided us with a new perspective on the rock, what it means and what it has meant. I understand people’s visceral angry reaction, but I think it’s unwarranted and close minded.
Chelsea
December 2, 2009 at 1:28 pm
They should have dynamited that motherfucker. The Rock wasn’t intended to be painted – some rowdy freshmen back when they still wore beanies white-washed it back in the day and then had to clean it with their toothbrushes or a bunch of seniors were going to beat the living hell out of them. For a couple of years, at least, it was probably really exciting the paint the rock, but once you couldn’t get in trouble for it, what’s the point, really? The subversive had been co-opted.
The Rock is basically just a billboard, one more part of a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign for a hundred thousand banal student group activities. God forbid we chop off some of that for shits and giggles.
Not only does the University sandblast it every few years to get some of the paint off, they also dropped that thing and cracked it in half. The physical sanctity of the Rock is irrelevant.
The best artistic usage of the rock would clearly be to paint some other rock (the huge boulders east of Harris Hall) and then pretend like you had made a serious mistake.
T
December 2, 2009 at 1:49 pm
As a recent alumn, I am extremely offended. I really think there should have been a vote, or something. I watched a guy paint that rock and then wait patiently by it for his girlfriend to come along so he could propose to her. I think he’d be really sad to know that his “will you marry me” is no longer permanently slathered on that stupid rock. I don’t know- I guarded that thing enough times to feel that I have at least a little bit of ownership on it, and the fact that some kids just decided they could undo it seems wrong.
However, I would be interested to see how much smaller it is now…
Seriously?
December 2, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Just to let everyone know. Most of the paint was not scraped off. The front of the rock where most of the messages were painted was not touched and the biggest “hole” is on the back. There is also a small hole to the rock on the top, and on one of the small rock pieces jutting off from the rock. You don’t notice the rock being any smaller, you just notice it being pointier in some places because the paint is not there to round the edges.
Just to let you know
December 2, 2009 at 2:20 pm
There was a comment above about the rock’s purpose “evolving.” During my years at NU it has been consistently used for the same purpose. It wasn’t until five people came along and chipped off paint that its purpose was any different. So please explain for me how the desires of five people indicate an evolution? It sounds more like five people forcing their opinions onto an entire campus.
Evolve?
December 2, 2009 at 2:52 pm
and onto 40 years of alumni.
Evolve?
December 2, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I think it’s ironic that so many people are offended about this assault on the Rock’s history. If they really cared so much about the Rock, they would know that the University removes the paint every few years already. Did you really think there was honestly 50 years of paint on it? Come on. The messages I painted on it my freshmen year weren’t even on that boulder.
Scott
December 2, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Scott, that’s not a logical necessity. Anyways, it sucks that there was no vote. There really should’ve been.
Justin
December 2, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I really hope they removed the layer where I proclaimed my undying love for 2 Fast 2 Furious. If you go back and watch it, you’ll realize…it’s not as good as you remember it.
Dale
December 2, 2009 at 5:02 pm
This shows a complete lack of understanding and appreciation for tradition. I can’t believe a small group of people would think it appropriate to do this when a half-decade of EVERYONE who came before did not. And for a VISITING professor to suggest this shows the disregard.
And to do it during the day, also? Let’s just go against the whole tradition of painting the rock. Let’s strip it instead, and do it during the day… How DIFFERENT of you. SO ARTISTIC.
Why?
December 2, 2009 at 5:08 pm
A VISITING PROFESSOR approved this?? WTF?! The Rock was a mural containing decades of culture, tradition, and history. I too am deeply saddened that this happened, and feel strongly that someone senior within the Northwestern University administration should explain how and why this was allowed. Someone needs to apologize and call this what it is — a egregious destruction of our past and our identity.
Peter
December 2, 2009 at 5:09 pm
The best part of this article is without a doubt the description of these hipsters weaklings attempting to use various tools to strip down the rock. Art majors are just all around frivilous. Don’t hire a no talent clown to do an engineer’s job.
walker wells
December 2, 2009 at 5:51 pm
last comment – hilarious
gp
December 2, 2009 at 6:02 pm
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=the+rock+northwestern&init=quick#/group.php?gid=189376897837&ref=search&sid=2400897.1763734700..1
Link
December 2, 2009 at 6:07 pm
You guys DO KNOW it used to be a fountain, right? And that it was MADE OF PURPLE QUARTZITE. There is PURPLE QUARTZITE beneath all that paint and shit.
Get over yourselves. There are more important things happening in the world than THIS.
Fountainhead
December 2, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Well, Walker Wells, it’s good to see we’re at least still honoring the tried and true Northwestern tradition of scorning anyone who doesn’t fit into your neat little mold of how everyone should be. Go Greek or go home!! Down with art!!
c
December 2, 2009 at 6:35 pm
They clean off all the paint every couple years.
Bullwinkle
December 2, 2009 at 6:36 pm
granted, i’m a huge believer in tradition, but i literally almost cried when i read this. what a travesty. part of what made the tradition so great was adding on to those layers. sad.
alumni
December 2, 2009 at 7:05 pm
turk ur jrrrbs!
x
December 2, 2009 at 7:14 pm
why the hell would they do this? and who gave them the permission to?
i value every layer of paint ive contributed to that rock.
jerks.
Rowena
December 2, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Well, if they had done it in the dark and not in the daylight you would have called them cowards for being ashamed to do it in the light.
anym
December 2, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Everybody asking for a vote?
As though we’d show up to vote for anything anyway?
We’re possibly the most apathetic bunch of people I’ve ever met (with the rare exception of the art students who do go out of their way to do something that makes other people think or feel).
Go to NULink and see how many of the surveys and petitions you’ve signed in the last, oh, month. We wouldn’t have noticed. We wouldn’t have cared.
More power to they who do.
Even if it means the rest of us get angry about not being included later.
'kin
December 2, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Most of you are flat-out crazy.
I am a friend of one of the rock excavators (I don’t want to reveal more, because at this rate it looks like there could be a mob at her door tomorrow or something, geez.) They didn’t do this because they hate you, or your birthday, or your wife, or Northwestern, or because they never want anyone to ever paint The Rock again. They did it because it’s interesting to think about what The Rock is, with and without the paint, and why it matters. The end. You are all free to go paint it again whenever you want. It has not been destroyed, and neither has your life.
My god, you’re all insane. I’m sorry if you’re closer to The Rock than you’ve ever been to another human being, but really, that isn’t anyone else’s fault.
?
December 2, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I totally agree with you. These art students made everyone think. When was the last time that the Rock was thought of, discussed, or loved this much?
@ 'Kin
December 2, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Part of the point of art is to create a discussion about something. In this way, this is really successful art. The negative responses only contribute to the success of this piece.
In fact, this controversial discussion has become part of this piece–it is now part of the Rock’s history, which was being examined in the first place.
Jessica Wiener
December 2, 2009 at 9:42 pm
“The negative responses only contribute to the success of this piece.”
So it’s quite similar to terrorism in that respect.
(I’m kidding. Your comment is almost frighteningly correct.)
Nick Merrill
December 2, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I am ashamed, Northwestern. Get it together.
The rock changes. liketotally@hotmail.comA lot of things change. We progress, we move forward, and it happens whether we like it or not. It’s interesting to reflect and to look back, and that’s why these students chose to do this. That’s why they brought a chunk of their chippings to the University Archives, a fact notably glossed over here.
The point is, it doesn’t erase anything or defame the rock. Just because the act of chipping away may make you uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s disrespectful, unnecessary, stupid or meant to induce pain. Have an ounce of humility here, and accept that that one time you painted the rock with your sorority sisters in below freezing weather doesn’t disappear because an inch of paint commemorating the moment was broken off. Breathe, Northwestern. Dear lord.
Ruth Orme-Johnson
December 2, 2009 at 9:59 pm
The tradition hasn’t gone anywhere–what is it but an idea that people follow, anyway? The act doesn’t matter, its the idea.
moo
December 2, 2009 at 9:59 pm
P.S.
I painted the Rock in chocolate last spring.
http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2009/04/31570/someone-paints-the-rock-april-8/
No one noticed. This isn’t the first time someone did something iconoclastic to the sacred Rock.
Jessica Wiener
December 2, 2009 at 10:00 pm
The rock was to our university what the layers of previous civilizations are to an ancient city. You don’t see the foundation walls and bits of broken pottery beneath your floor, but knowing they’re there adds a texture and depth to your sense of place; fine for an archeologist to excavate and reconstruct, but obscene for someone with a steam shovel to churn up and destroy. Stripping the rock leaves me feeling oddly violated.
olivia
December 2, 2009 at 10:41 pm
“Part of the point of art is to create a discussion about something. In this way, this is really successful art. The negative responses only contribute to the success of this piece.
In fact, this controversial discussion has become part of this piece–it is now part of the Rock’s history, which was being examined in the first place.”
Just because it gets people to think/talk doesn’t mean it was right…
M
December 2, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Terrorism makes people think too. Terrorism ain’t art.
This is an act of vandalism.
B
December 2, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Speaking as one who has tried to chip years of paint of theatrical sets, there is no way they got all the paint off the rock. Every year is still represented there.
Likening it terrorism is melodramatic.
I think they should have done just one section of it, and I don’t know how far they got.
I also don’t think you should take their reasoning from a reporter who only cites one girl in the group. We all have friends who misrepresent us.
Amanda
December 2, 2009 at 11:48 pm
those pictures look SO MUCH COOLER than when the entire thing is painted to say “come to my frat event” or whatever
jd
December 2, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Everybody chill the fuck out! There’s a valid historical precedent for this! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palimpsest
A palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book that has been scraped off and used again. The word “palimpsest” comes through Latin from Greek ????? + ??? = (palin “again” + psao “I scrape”), and meant “scraped (clean and used) again.” Romans wrote on wax-coated tablets that could be smoothed and reused, and a passing use of the rather bookish term “palimpsest” by Cicero seems to refer to this practice.
The term has come to be used in similar context in a variety of disciplines, notably architectural archaeology.
alex
December 3, 2009 at 12:34 am
Am I the only one who sees the real intention behind this? Trapped mosquitos. That’s right, sometime during the Cretaceous period several mosquitos got stuck in the Benjamin Moore layers, each of the insects complete with dinosaur DNA.
Dr. Shapiro, my dear Dr. Shapiro. Welcome, to NUrassic Parkes 202.
Dunuh Nuh Nuh Nuh / Dunuh Nuh Nuh Nuh.
Tim
December 3, 2009 at 12:54 am
have people not noticed the several mentions of the fact that NU sandblasts the rock every few years? the marriage proposal from 1979 is probably not still there. and even if that layer of paint was still there on nov. 29th, it’s still on the front of the rock.
but you’re right, it’s terrorism. horrible, horrible terrorism.
anonymous
December 3, 2009 at 1:23 am
I think you guys missed the part where I was kidding about the terrorism analogy.
Nick Merrill
December 3, 2009 at 1:50 am
this is bullshit.
anon
December 3, 2009 at 3:40 am
That rock is quite colorful.
Eh
December 3, 2009 at 7:23 am
Clearly no one actually loves the rock with a capital L, but it does feel violating to know that your carefully preserved imprint on life at NU has been intentionally removed. I’d be happy with a sample taken for the archives, but letting whoever walks by wield an axe seems like it’s using mob mentality to take advantage of the word “art.”
Mia
December 3, 2009 at 8:17 am
You do know the university power washes the rock down every summer right? That’s not ‘40 years’ of paint, maybe a couple months. Way to do your HW and keep up that journalistic integrity, NBN. Don’t you think thousands of layers of paint would be more than a ‘couple inches’ thick. Are all of you going to be offended and yell at the university now too?
mike
December 3, 2009 at 9:26 am
Where is everyone getting their info that the rock is washed (acid washed, power washed, sandblasted) every summer (ten years, year). Is it just what you heard around campus or does anyone have actual knowledge of this occurring?
just wondering
December 3, 2009 at 10:10 am
all i know is if you go to paint the rock and paint anything besides the rock you are a fucking toolbox. painting the rock is cool as hell but dumbass immature college students apparently don’t realize how pointless it is to paint every fucking thing around the rock when they do it. you’re making the middle of our campus an eyesore, congrats.
h
December 3, 2009 at 10:12 am
i contend, then, that when i beat the living fuck out of a hipster then that should be art too
d
December 3, 2009 at 10:15 am
Just another day in the life of pretentious South Campus art students. I bet after they finished chipping away at the Rock, they went back to Jones and read poetry about lighthouses and snapped for each other a lot. And then they got into a big fight about who had the biggest boner for Stephen Malkmus…
Jake
December 3, 2009 at 10:21 am
So lets underestimate the rock has been painted 50 times a year for 20 years and paint is 1mm thick that is 1000 mm. 1000 mm is around 40 inches. The rock paint was only about 2 inches deep. There is no way the rock has never been stripped/cleaned before.
work it out
December 3, 2009 at 10:24 am
Responding to someone chipping paint with violence is just ridiculous, and expanding it to a group of people for no reason other then an association through a label, is discrimination.
blatant discrimination
December 3, 2009 at 10:24 am
Totally agree with you
@ h
December 3, 2009 at 10:27 am
I like the rock. I’ve helped paint it multiple times. Whatever you paint on it gets covered by whatever the next person who paints on it. It’s not supposed to last forever. Un-painting the rock is an obvious thing to do. I’d peel pieces of paint off it sometimes–a little hard to resist. What they did shouldn’t be this scandalous. My ultimate goal of covering the thing in duct tape would have made a mess of the whole thing. Don’t like how the rock looks now? GET PAINTING.
Ginnie
December 3, 2009 at 10:29 am
While I’m pretty upset at this vandalism, what makes the entire situation worse is who decided this should happen. A visiting professor? Plus some students?
Maybe I should vandalize the Arch tomorrow. Hey, it’s art, because you’ll be talking about it, right?
M
December 3, 2009 at 11:34 am
OMG who cares. Seriously, a vote? We should make sure to vote on every message that’s painted on the Rock too I suppose to make sure nobody is offended? Honestly as long as they guarded the rock before chipping it, then as far as I’m concerned, they’ve followed the rules.
Morgs
December 3, 2009 at 11:46 am
Many people have talked about doing things to the rock, but nobody actually did them. The only difference between these art students and everybody else is they actually took action on something they wanted to do.
T
December 3, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I agree with the comment that this breaks my heart. Saying that the rock is more important than all the club and birthday announcements is an idiotic thing to say. The rock IS the canvas for this. By taking the layers off, you have taken away the meaning and use of the rock and made it into a dented piece of shit. You have just ruined 50 years of tradition. I hope you are happy with your new legacy of being the assholes who destroyed the rock.
NU Alum
December 3, 2009 at 12:42 pm
To the Rock Excavation Organization:
As Director of the US EPA Region 5, I have the unfortunate responsibility to inform you that your organization is in direct violation of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X), which adumbrates that no person or persons may remove lead paint from local historical monuments on US territory. Your activity has compromised the health of thousands of individuals in proximity to Harris, University Hall, and Kresge, in addition to effacing the veneer vitality of university tradition. You leave me no choice but to subject you to sensitivity training.
Sincerely,
W.L. Stump
Director of US EPA Region 5
US Environmental Protection Agency
December 3, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Come on NBN, why don’t you at least let the student body make their own decisions instead of completely slanting the story. Your entire story is negative and makes fun of and takes stabs at the students involved. Even your bit.ly url is “goodbyerock” last I checked the rock is still there and it is still being painted. Why don’t you present the story and let both sides voice their opinions in the comments instead of creating a situation where the students must defend themselves.
Disappointing Journalism
December 3, 2009 at 1:30 pm
This is an opinion piece! It was a reaction to an event that was taking place and provoked a great deal of emotion and thought by the NU community.
olivia
December 3, 2009 at 1:40 pm
It’s in the Opinion section. Look at the top.
Someone
December 3, 2009 at 1:40 pm
There is nothing dissapointing about this piece. I say Bravo for the feelings it has unveiled.
Not disappointed
December 3, 2009 at 1:45 pm
as an alum, i am saddened by this. i’m not alone.
sadden
December 3, 2009 at 1:48 pm
You do know the university power washes the Rock from time to time to clean it off and erases layers of paint. I think they do it every couple of summers. It would be stupid not to otherwise it would be humongous. I think this is actually a really interesting way to paint the Rock. It did not look too bad when I passed it today.
Phil
December 3, 2009 at 3:57 pm
rah rah keep chipping! The school needs to be reminded that school spirit is more than just layers of paint on a rock
anon
December 3, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Man, now I feel out of the loop by not painting the rock while I was at NU. I lived right by it and sat by it, but never painted it. Is there an initiative for alum to “re-paint” it because I would totally be up for that! NBN, make it happen!
Lame Alum
December 3, 2009 at 4:07 pm
If you messed with my rock, I’ll repaint it. You mess with it again, I’ll repaint it again. It is a pretty shallow move by this group of fools.
How about you fight for Healthcare like me or Darfur or something that actually has implications. But no – you’re all big and bad with your power tools. I do wonder about my generation.
Dave
December 3, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I just saw the rock today…and it looks terrible. D:
Ew
December 3, 2009 at 6:03 pm
The way this issue has captured the attention of so many of us shows that the school probably needs to take a position. Either grind it bare every summer, or let the layers of paint build up forever. But this maybe sandblasting it down a little once in a while, and then letting a bunch of art students, directed by a visiting instructor (something galling about that), just randomly hack away at it, can’t be accepted any more. As these comments show, the Rock clearly means something to us, and to the generations of alums who’ve painted it before us. I vote for letting the paint build up forever from now on. Who’s with me?
Tony
December 3, 2009 at 6:06 pm
you are aware that the rock will be around 26 inches bigger on all sides in about 6 years if it was never cleaned.
@ Tony
December 3, 2009 at 6:20 pm
We don’t have 26 inches to spare on a 240 acre campus?
Tony
December 3, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I think the different layers of paint they revealed are very beautiful. The photos of the Rock being stripped have a kind of eloquence to them. Maybe instead of completely peeling the rock, leave enough layers exposed to see the history instead of leaving it covered up, or removing it completely. The colors are gorgeous.
Lea
December 3, 2009 at 6:28 pm
“Lisa, I want to buy your rock.”
Brian
December 3, 2009 at 6:34 pm
One COMMITS to tradition, fully, not partially, then you adjust to the result and allow history to prevail. I’m not suggesting this is a must do, but I am thoroughly touched by the sentiments expressed because of this piece.
carol
December 3, 2009 at 6:59 pm
To answer the question in the headline – no, paint alone cannot define our history. If anyone came to Northwestern because of the Rock, they should rethink their priorities – same with alumni whose fondest memories of Northwestern are the rock. It looks gross with the paint chipped off, but now it has been repainted. It is a nice tradition, but it is not what Northwestern is about.
LOVE
December 3, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Of course that is not what NU is about. Traditons are just a part of a larger meaning,whether it be religion or institutions. They have a significant role, a kind of emotional glue to its larger part. That is why we are going home for the Holidays.
@love
December 3, 2009 at 8:12 pm
I am a proud graduate of Northwestern University and The Rock was a huge part of my college experience. These undergraduates have no respect for the University traditions. I hope the professor that approved this project is never allowed to set foot on the campus again and those students learn how much they can hurt people by their self-righteous stupidity.
What if the alumni got together and started a protection fund? Became willing to make donations on the condition that The Rock tradition is kept alive?
Kris
December 3, 2009 at 9:02 pm
“dressed in black skinny jeans, a wool scarf, and a brown corduroy jacket, threw his axe with a form that only years of never performing physical labor could produce.”
You may not like what they did, but you have to make fun of someones appearance? Really?
Needless
December 3, 2009 at 9:15 pm
@ Kris: please send money where it is truly needed, not to the rock. there are more important causes.
Protection fund?
December 3, 2009 at 9:24 pm
This makes me so sad. This was our communal history – they had no right to erase everything.
Cara
December 3, 2009 at 11:39 pm
you guys,
don’t freak out. alums united (a not for prof we started ten minutes ago) is totally on top of all of this. lame alum–you’re in too. we’re mounting an insurrection to come paint back all the years of glory that has been so carelessly erased. we’ll be there, like, tomorrow. okay: more like a week from now. BYOP (that’s bring your own paint for all you non-art-fuckers out there). we’re gonna paint for 24 hours, to bring back 48 years of history!
also, come see our show in the bergen (it’s called JOSEPH AND THE DULL COLORLESS NON-COLORED NIGHTMARE SWEATER).
Go alums!!
alums united
December 4, 2009 at 12:03 am
everyone interested in massive alum repainting effort follow the twitter hashtag #repainttherock – brooklyn is getting the ball rolling. you in?
jack
December 4, 2009 at 12:28 am
People are painting the rock right now, when you see it tomorrow morning it’ll already be painted over.
Guys
December 4, 2009 at 1:25 am
thank you, alums united! i am aghast at this news. i painted the rock twice, both in the MIDDLE of winter. those were the two coldest 24 hours of my life. but they were also two of the fondest memories i have of northwestern, and i feel like they’ve been ripped away from me.
i wonder how a group of NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS could come together to permanently alter the experiences of the decades of students who came before them. how could they act with so little foresight and respect? this is not merely about a symbolic “tradition”–though it is important to note that this is one of the most well-known at a school with few traditions to its name–but about the experiences and memories of the thousands of students who participated in a single achievement.
WCAS 2007
December 4, 2009 at 2:34 am
join the revolution-
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=189376897837&ref=mf
Let's ROCK
December 4, 2009 at 10:11 am
I love all these post-modern pontificators justifying the rock’s excoriation with lines like, “All things change.” “The rock is evolving.” “In this act of destruction, we experience what the rock is, was and shall be. We have never loved the rock better.”
Spare me. These justifications can be used whenever someone does something someone else doesn’t like. They’re employed in the passive voice, as though the act complained of isn’t a conscious act by an intentional actor. Rather they liken themselves to nature and the seasons. Turn turn turn.
So, like the Obama administration, I say if you can’t beat them, join them. I am going to dynamite the rock. Completely destroy it. Don’t complain people — time happens! Life goes on. Get over yourselves. Etc.
Seriously, it would be great if students chose something new to paint, something daring. Like a professor. Or the President’s car. Or Kappa’s house. Yeh… Paint it some hideous color that’s totally out of season/fashion, and then write some message like, “Fur is torture!” That could mean Kappa’s need waxing, or refer to the minks they wear.
You get my drift. Go forth and paint things. Paint Cody Kittle purple. Make a statement.
And art majors think they hold the keys to silly drama!
Walker Wells
December 4, 2009 at 10:29 am
Great, they chipped off paint. Guess what, it’ll be painted over tomorrow and no one will ever know anything was missing.
Get over it and move on.
Ginger Brew
December 4, 2009 at 10:55 am
I’m a Northwestern alum who just graduated this past June, and I’m absolutely shocked this was allowed to happen. The Rock was all of my favorite NU traditions, and having painted it several times, it angers me that the paint I worked to put on might not even be there any more. Did this group get permission to desecrate what eseentially belongs to the whole NU student body?
Rebecca
December 4, 2009 at 1:08 pm
damn hipsters always imposing their angst on the rest of us. anyone who can upload that fella with the skinny jeans throwing the axe to YouTube, i’ll buy a beer @ the mark. thank you kindly.
Will
December 4, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Seriously, this is ridiculous. The university takes the paint off every few years. I read that off a piece of paper, so I’m sorry I can’t link you, but honestly, saying it’s “decades of paint” is a factual error, and claiming that they’re ruining tradition… just no.
Thor
December 4, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Perhaps it time to stop erasing the messages and allow the rock to hold the decades to come.
@ thor
December 4, 2009 at 2:52 pm
it’s a rock. shouldn’t you all be studying? If someone can paint over a message, why can’t they chip it away? It disappears either way. End result is the same.
And did I really just read this? “Did this group get permission to desecrate what eseentially belongs to the whole NU student body?”
it belongs to the NU student body? Since when did that happen? My bets is that it is property of NU. In that case, every time its painted, it could be seen as a form of vandalization. painting the rock is a PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. Get off your high horses people and put your nose back in the books. WHy didn’t anyone show such passion while they were chipping away? Because it doesn’t matter. This is all just mob mentality.
“those were the two coldest 24 hours of my life. but they were also two of the fondest memories i have of northwestern, and i feel like they’ve been ripped away from me.” Really? They’ve been ripped away? Are you really losing sleep over this? Even though someone already painted over it many times? and it could never be seen? All that work and effort and the memory is tainted? People, get real and grow up.
alumni
December 4, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Oh yes, Rebecca, because you were really going to come back and try to find that paint you put on the Rock. Get over it.
@Rebecca
December 4, 2009 at 3:39 pm
No . You get off your high horse. It is a long way down for you, so be careful
@alummi
December 4, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Hey,
No . You get off your high horse. It is a long way down for you, so be careful
Carol
December 4, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I graduated in ‘06 and am furious at NU administration for letting this happen. I have donated money in the past as a young alum and this makes me reconsider any future contributions. NU needs MORE character, not hammers and screwdrivers attacking one of the only things the entire campus shares.
what is wrong with people.
Veganhead
December 4, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I loved the article about the rock. I think the gut feeling of the author was authentic and showed a value for history and tradition. It is a good thing to feel this way about one’s school and a good thing to elicit similar feelings from NU students. I think the visiting professor responsible for the assignment may want to think harder about art in its meaning.
Cindy
December 4, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I definitely think the tradition is what makes the rock special, and even if the university regularly sands the rock down, it’s not okay to go against the whole tradition and culture surrounding “the rock” without even considering that the rock might mean something more to other students/staff on the campus. All my friends were really upset because of this and it was selfish of the small group to go and assume that the rock was “just a rock”.
Try and think before acting next time.
Sophia
December 4, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Anyone who says what these folks did to the rock ruins their experience is using the same sort of flawed logic of straight people who say gay marriage will invalidate their own marriages.
'kin
December 4, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Tradition. That’s really what this is about. After reading this article, lot of us realized that a tradition that has been part of our lives since we got here (no, a major part, but that’s not the point) was being obliterated by a handful of students under the direction of a visiting prof. And we feel a certain loss (no, not a major loss, but again, that’s not the point).
frank
December 4, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I more object to the fact that they did a shitty job with it. There’s a reason it’s normally sandblasted – that leaves an even surface. It’s totally uneven now and every rock-painting for at least winter quarter, if not longer, will look like shit thanks to these losers. The university will probably have to step in to even it out, costing money. This visiting prof should have to pay for that.
Alison
December 4, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I’d love to get off my high horse, but I’m already at “rock” bottom (punny). The fact that this can even impact someone’s life and cause grief means they don’t have enough big enough problems to worry about. It’s a rock that people paint, and will continue to paint. How is this tradition being ruined? Because someone wanted to do something else to it? Maybe i want to TP it. Maybe I want to spray paint it. Just keep on painting it. For real.
Someone put holes in a rock. Big deal. Quit your whining and just repaint it like you always do. With holding donations because a set of people thought it’d be fun to do something different without probably 99.9% of the school knowing is a bit extreme.
For all those grieving about this, what action have you taken besides 1.) complaining, 2.) joining a facebook group to complain. I bet all but a few have done nothing. Why? Because it’s easy to complain about, but no one really cares enough to do anything.
alumni
December 4, 2009 at 5:47 pm
You find it so easy to diminish and stereotype those who care about something you don’t. I’m sorry it is “just a rock” to you. Perhaps that is not how everybody feels. Perhaps it is something for you to be considerate of rather than pathetically cynical. NU students do many things. Many wonderful things. You must stop your whining!
@alumni
December 4, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I just want everything
to be like it was.
Alex
December 4, 2009 at 6:37 pm
have a look at this:
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/architecture/image.php?iid=298&all=302,299,300,301,298,303,293,295,294,296,292,297
(continued at http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/architecture/image.php?iid=303&all=302,299,300,301,298,303,293,295,294,296,292,297)
People have been crybabies about changes to the rock before, but 20 years later, most of the people complaining here have no idea that even happened. Life goes on. Funny, too, that one of the students quoted in the article was upset that it seemed to mark a move toward the conservative and away from the radical, completely opposite of what most here are in favor of.
c
December 4, 2009 at 9:11 pm
The paint chippers should be expelled. Joking? No.
I hope they get lead poisoning. Joking? Only slightly.
Katie Halpern
December 4, 2009 at 9:30 pm
The memories painted on the rock were frozen in time until you destroyed their commemoration. They weren’t your commemorations to destroy.
Your project will be painted over and forgotten soon enough. I hope you fail finals because you spent time hacking at a rock. Get a real job.
alumni
December 4, 2009 at 9:40 pm
p.s. what happened in ‘89 actually made it to the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/23/style/campus-life-northwestern-tradition-crumbles-students-grumble.html
Again, sad how then people were outraged about feeling oppressed by the university, whereas now people are so quick to call upon the administrative powers to punish this group of students.
c
December 4, 2009 at 9:44 pm
omg i hope the people who repainted the rock already fail their finals because they wasted their time doing that. get real jobs, instead of apparently claiming that one project is your job!!
why do so many nu alumni not know "alumni" is plural?
December 4, 2009 at 9:47 pm
I think the images that accompany the article are really quite attractive. What the students did is an art project in and of itself. Using the rock to express one’s self is the very point of its relevance to northwestern tradition. That is exactly what these folks did. But they did not use the traditional method. Rather they remixed if you will, all the work and effort of other individuals over the years and turned it into something different. I think it is brilliant.
rethinking
December 4, 2009 at 11:42 pm
It’s a very beautiful project that operates on the same level as a core sample or a diagram of layers of strata underneath the earth’s surface. That the layers were colors all painted by Northwestern students over some time also makes it operate as a refreshingly democratic piece of conceptual public art that contains the authorship of each of those student painters.
While the student excavators’ statements in the article sound clunky and glib at best (and, I must say, given the poor journalistic “skills” of the author, I doubt the accuracy of those quotes) I don’t think the students were chiseling away to make an iconoclastic statement. Rather, this was a really smart way of exposing the beauty of history.
And the good new: it’s not like exposing the rings of a tree by shopping it down. They scraped paint off a rock that can be repainted over and over again.
Come on, Northwestern, you’re better than this. Keep an open mind! Some of art’s processes are reductive by nature, including, interestingly enough, stone-carving. Michelangelo would sculpt with the intent of “liberating” the figure that was already inside the slab of marble.
In this case, the project makes me think about all the history that has been set free through its production—whether it’s the past layers of paint or the anecdotal memories presented on this board.
Sbarro Chicken Hurdle
December 5, 2009 at 12:03 am
To Whom It May Concern:
I am not sure what is going on here, but my publicist told me I should come here and dispel the rumor that “layers and layers of history and tradition have been chipped away from The Rock.” I have no idea how or when these rumors arose.
When I retired my WWE persona as The Rock, it was because I wanted to pursue more acting roles, some of which included the 2008 film with Steve Carrell, “Get Smart”, “Jonny Quest” which will premiere in 2010 and “City of Angels” in 2012. I am very excited about these new projects.
However, just because I am branching out into new creative fields does not mean that “layers of history and tradition” are being “chipped away.” I am flattered The Rock has meant so much to you, but all characters (and careers) evolve over time. It does not in any way change who I was in the past! And, if it’s any consolation to you, I guarantee you’ve not seen the last of The Rock. I can’t say much because of confidentiality agreements, but WWE and I are planning something very very big with RAW in the very near future.
I want to thank you for your interest in my work and your passionate responses dedicated to preserving a certain historical moment of my career. But I assure you, no matter what I choose to pursue now or in the future, nothing can take away who The Rock was, is, or will be to each and every one of you.
And so let me leave you with this:
DO YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING?
Be tough,
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Dwayne Johnson
December 5, 2009 at 12:22 am
lol jk! everyone knows it would be outrageous to expel these students, especially considering they didn’t commit vandalism anymore than did the first frat to paint the rock in 1957. and i certainly wouldn’t wish harm on fellow wildcats, because that’s not good school spirit!
Haterade Kalpern
December 5, 2009 at 1:09 am
OMG DWAYNE JOHNSON IS SO HOT
P.M.
December 5, 2009 at 1:15 am
I’m not to thrilled with them chipping away at history. I bet those kids would be pissed off if that happened to their rock!!
Tomorrow Something New Blog
Ziggy
December 5, 2009 at 1:26 am
To all the people who are telling NU alums and students to “get over it, get a life, etc” I feel bad for you. Of course we all have larger problems- we have lives. However, I’m impressed that so many alums and students care about the campus still, and care about the experiences they are having or have had in the past. So maybe you’re the ones that need a life. I love Northwestern tradition, and it hurts me and saddens me to think that a small group of students and a visiting professor took matters into their own hands. Maybe you need to ask yourselves whether or not you’re at the right university, if you don’t care about your campus, your fellow students, or anything other than the classes you take. College is supposed to be an experience. You can go to school anywhere. But you can’t be an NU Wildcat just anywhere. You should think about that before you criticize and judge people who value the place that gave them so much. I’m proud of my degree, and I’m proud to be an alumna of Northwestern University. Go Cats!
alumna
December 5, 2009 at 2:18 pm
To the installation art students who conducted this project – congratulations.
Alumna
December 5, 2009 at 8:17 pm
What is next–are these people going to rape our women and children?
Terrfeo
December 5, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Art is not eternal, motherfuckers!
Weasels
December 5, 2009 at 9:13 pm
#
Art is not eternal, motherfuckers!
Weasels
December 5, 2009 at 9:13 pm
———
uh, it’s one of the few things in the world that stands the test of time. but thanks for playing, moron.
Art Lover
December 5, 2009 at 10:19 pm
This article captured the imagination and spurred a discussion in which heartfelt emotions were displayed. Too bad recent posts have degenerated,revealing only pointless expressions of anger.
Nancy
December 5, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Wow. I see the word “pretentious” tossed about a lot on these comments, but can we talk about the author? It frustrates me to see a representative of North by Northwestern write with such unthinkable condescension towards his fellow students, on such uneven grounds as their fashion sense and propensity for physical labor. Very strong arguments, buddy.
Whether or not this provocative quotation you all love to cite about “birthdays and shit” is in fact true, it is not wholly representative of the group involved. When I was there (not “slack-jawed,” I might add), and I talked to the kids unearthing the rock’s history, they spoke of the rock with reverence, excited to see to its origins, glimpsing what it looked like when those dumb freshman first painted it in the 20s.
You ask “What is more meaningful: an object, or the tradition associated with this object?” I assume you think the latter. Well, I agree. It is the legacy that matters, not the tangible materials. It is the stories. Not the fucking paint. No one’s stories have vanished. No one’s memories are gone. The layers of previous messages are no less visible. Indeed, having seen the beautiful layers on a chip of paint, I’d say they are more visible. So, having “resurfaced” discussion on the rock and its rich history, how exactly do you think these artists have destroyed it?
Ned
December 5, 2009 at 11:14 pm
And props to Dwayne Johnson. He’s just a talented performer.
Ned
December 5, 2009 at 11:15 pm
I think Northwestern is swaying too far in the ganging up on particular individuals when things like this happen. e.g personal attacks, etc, and unfortunately it’s something that is occurring quite often on this campus and creating a lot of alienation and hostility, regardless of whether these people’s actions were wrong or not. It’s pretty much just massive bullying.
Ed
December 6, 2009 at 12:01 am
My opinion sort of depends on how much the chipped off. If they took most or even a majority of the surface of the paint off, I don’t like it, but if they just took out selected chunks, revealed the surface of the rock itself in places, and left the swirl layers at other spots, but mostly left the layers intact, I think it’s a cool look at the past.
Also, thinking about it, it does seem like NU would have to sandblast it down from time to time, because paint is pretty thick and after maybe 150 to 200 layers a year, it would be literally HUGE after only a few years.
Adam
December 6, 2009 at 1:38 am
Those pictures look awesome.
I feel like this point of the project is to show the history and tradition not destroy it.
kat
December 6, 2009 at 2:57 pm
the people that get worked up about this make me ashamed of this university.
alumna
December 6, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I would not be ashamed. I would say everyone has the right to their opinion. They take off the paint, someone else can paint it right back up. Just because they chipped away layers does not mean they own it. Students can keep painting it with announcements as is tradition. At least, when you all repaint the Rock you’ll have less peeling. :)
An Alumna
December 6, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I retract my last statement. :/ pictures show a very rough looking surface, pretty but not so smooth. They should have been more thoughtful in their execution. Clear it all off or leave it alone is my opinion.
An Alumna
December 6, 2009 at 4:13 pm
No, I think ashamed is right on. Just read through the insane comments wishing harm on the authors of this work and also the comments on the Facebook group. Future leaders of America at Northwestern, I see.
Please let me know when you guys plan the book-burning outside the library, I don’t want to miss that.
Whine oh grad
December 6, 2009 at 4:40 pm
yeah… i mean, i guess i kind of understand what this student group was going for, and, ok…seeing all the layers simultaneously is pretty cool, but since this is something that can’t be undone, the general student body definitely should have been consulted. this was basically a giant “fuck you” to most of the students here who think that the rock is more than just a rock. yes, it was originally a fountain, but students painted it because they realized that that wasn’t all that cool. the rock is a symbol because of the paint, not because of the baraboo quartzite fountain that barely anyone even remembers.
painting it links us to past students…that’s awesome!!
some people paint it knowing that their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents etc. have painted it before them…that’s cool!
some of our illustrious alums have probably painted it…that’s awesome!
and now it’s all gone…not cool. at all.
oh no...
December 6, 2009 at 8:52 pm
It’s awesome, however, what a giant debate this has sparked. While I’m not particularly excited about people “excavating” my Northwestern traditions, it’s so great that suddenly people are in conversation about the meaning and purpose of art, the role tradition plays in our lives, and all sorts of other topics.
To Whine Oh Grad on the people who were suggesting violence…I have a feeling they were being sarcastic. I get this feeling mostly because they said they were being sarcastic in their posts.
I also think it’s a bit excessive to be ashamed of a university whose student body is passionate about something. I think passion is better than disinterest.
glad...
December 6, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Wow, this makes me so sad! As an NU alum and the original NBN Rock On blogger, the Rock truly has a special place in my heart. Losing the years of paint just seems…sad. Here’s to keeping up the tradition.
Mindy Zacharjasz
December 6, 2009 at 9:53 pm
To all alumni that commented on this: stop wasting your time writing on this page and come here to give me a fucking job, the rock will still be here long after I’m reduced to giving handjobs for a nickel in chicago backalleys.
On another note, in an effort to mark my territory I beat off on the rock several years ago and have since become infertile. Please advise if you have found my seed.
Eagerly awaiting your response,
Unemployed
unemployed
December 7, 2009 at 1:30 am
Still, the question remains, who the hell let this happen? There are rules surrounding the rock. You can’t just paint it whenever you feel like it. You definitely shouldn’t be able to chip away at it whenever you please.
This disgusts me. These kids should be expelled. Seriously.
Tommy G
December 7, 2009 at 1:36 am
I like how everyone is really layering on the comments. But I’m worried about those who would seek to chip away at our thoughtful remarks (though we will never forget writing them).
Picture 9 looks like a rainbow clown vagina, which is something I’ll unfortunately probably never see again, so there is definitely some good that came out of all this.
a s s
December 7, 2009 at 3:42 am
Northwestern has art students?
???
December 7, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Yet another reason why I’ll never donate money to his school, run by fucktards. Destruction is not art, its just an attempt to get some attention for your stupid ass art class (which NO ONE CARES ABOUT). I love art, but nowadays artists are mustly just lame pussies. In skinny jeans. Who can’t lift an axe.
thisisretarded
December 7, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Everyone is an alumna now. But I am the “original” alumni. I speak for all. Like Jesus.
Behold my patrick duffey leg.
alumni
December 7, 2009 at 11:07 pm
When summer comes and it is warm enough to spray paint the rocks again, there is a Home Depot ready to serve. It is where I will go.
Evanston #1902
2201 Oakton Street
Evanston, IL 60202
Dave
December 8, 2009 at 4:26 pm
behold my celery arm
Scuzzlebutt
December 9, 2009 at 9:29 pm
The painting of The Rock is a highly unique delight that looms large in the emotional hearts and minds of all who attend Northwestern — and all who have attended Northwestern from many years past. The Rock’s chipping and scrapping, with no approval from students and alumni, was disrespectful and selfish on the part of the small contingency of members who took on this project.
Northwestern is an institution that emphasizes the deep values of aesthetic meaning and proper research preparation. Northwestern more than emphasizes the values of this yin and yang of art and science — it promotes these values as central to the underlying code of how we all go about being our human selves; these values guide the way we think about and contribute to the humanity of those all around us. The scrapping of The Rock is counterintuitive to these values.
The remnants scraped from The Rock — were abruptly excavated W H Y? — are going WHERE? are going to be examined — HOW? were handled by WHOM? — the findings of the research are WHAT? — the findings will be available WHERE? When considering authentic research for art or archeology, the casual approach that was adopted for this project was unprofessional; it was under-controlled. (One example — people as they passed by were encouraged to assist in its scrapping?)
The remnants of The Rock belong to all of Northwestern. Since the deed has already been done, all answers to all questions, as well as research process pictorials, should be respectfully, skillfully and securely displayed near The Rock. A second display of the remnants should be similarly displayed – for all of Northwestern to view.
And as a moot point, it looks like The Rock must be legally recognized as the property of all students and alumni. Painting is the tradition, not scraping and examining.
KLK
March 7, 2010 at 11:12 am
Why don’t you start a web page to document the “artisitic” history of The Rock, to which anyone who had ever painted the rock could upload a dated photo of their masterpiece along with a very brief background as to what inspired the event. It would be a fascinating study of NU life!
Liz
March 16, 2010 at 12:12 pm