HUM 100 Project 1 Artifact Chart
Although you will work on various assignments throughout the course to support you in
completing this assignment, this project is not due until Week 6.
Artifact
What is your chosen artifact? Include a link to
or a picture of the artifact.
I.
Describe the artifact in detail. For
instance, how would you describe it to
someone who could not see it?
“The Wall” is a concept album by the English
rock band Pink Floyd that was released in
November of 1979.
The album is based on the life of Roger Waters,
one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. It
follows the life of a fictional character, a rock
star named Pink, from his childhood during
post-World War II England after the loss of his
father in the war, to his self-imposed isolation
as a world-renowned rock star.
The loss of his father, which occurred when Pink
was just a baby, is a pivotal event that serves as
a catalyst for some of Pink’s future feelings of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R_Kn5g loss, despair and isolation. This incident, along
q4Og&list=RD0R_Kn5gq4Og&start_radio=1&t with the culture of Great Britain and its
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educational system during the 1940’s and
1950’s, gives a compelling portrait of the
protagonist’s life and psychic struggles.
II.
Choose elements of the artifact that you believe are most important to how you
experience it and explain why. For instance, what particularly catches your senses or
makes you want to keep experiencing it? Does the choice of medium impact your
experience?
Since “The Wall” is an album, it is experienced aurally, as a work of music. The music and lyrics
combine to create a very powerful interpretation of the protagonist’s feelings of despair and
isolation. The harmony, tempo and melody, in addition to the lyrics, help the listener to identify
and sympathize with the author’s plight.
In the beginning of the album, the music is reminiscent of a different era, giving the listener the
feeling of being in Great Britain during World War II. The melody is carried by the sounds of a
clarinet, an instrument that, though not widely used today, was a major instrument in the swing
sound that prevailed during that era. There are also sounds of the airplanes that were flown
during World War II and the sound of a “dive-bomber closing in on its target” followed by, not
the sound of a crash, but of the sound of a newborn baby. (Nemcoff, 2012).
Pink Floyd effectively uses the technique of going from recording a song written in a major key to
recording a song written in a minor key to show a change in mood. Songs that are written in
major keys tend to give a more positive, happy feeling when these songs are listened to, while
songs that are composed in minor keys sound dark, melancholy, and emotional (Nemcoff, 2012).
While listening to the beginning of “The Wall”, one can sense the change from a happy scene to
emotional troubles by the group’s use of this change in musical key. The listener is thus drawn
into the story and is compelled to listen to the rest of the album to find out the fate of the
protagonist.
Assumptions about your artifact
III.
State your opinion on what you believe is the purpose of this artifact and the success of
the creator in achieving the purpose. For instance, what message do you believe the
creator is trying to express, and is that message successfully expressed?
“The Wall” was intended to express the feelings of loss, despair and isolation that was felt by
one of the group’s members, Roger Waters, specifically related to the loss of his father during
World War II when Roger was only five months old. I feel that Roger Waters was very successful
in achieving this purpose. The anguish and despair that the protagonist experiences are
successfully communicated in both the lyrics and the musical style that is created. The listener
feels genuine empathy and is able to understand and sympathize with the protagonist.
IV.
Discuss how the artifact reflects the culture (or context) in which it exists. Be sure to
address what aspects of culture have relevance for this artifact: politics, history, religion,
social perceptions, technology, media, education, and so on. In other words, how do the
artifact and its culture interrelate? For instance, how would a particular form of body
modification reflect the urban culture in which you encountered it?
A point of reference that is brought up frequently in “The Wall” is the Second World War and its
repercussions on postwar British society (Ackermann, 2012). “The Wall” reflects the culture that
existed in Great Britain, both during and after the war. It gives a glimpse into the political and
social atmosphere of the country. The album is also very critical of Great Britain’s educational
system in the 1940’s and 1950’s, where teachers were authoritarian figures who, according to
the author, were controlling and taught students to practice conformity instead of free thought.
V.
Use the artifact to discuss how acts of creative expression impact and are impacted by
the people and situations that surround it. How might the artifact and the person who
created it have impacted each other? For instance, how might the geographic location
where the artifact was made, the materials used to create the artifact, the medium of
the creative process, or the environment where the artifact is displayed influence the
creator’s life or future creative work? How might the artifact and the culture or context
in which it was created have impacted each other? For instance, does the artifact add to
the understanding of the culture from which it was created? What contributions does it
make to continuing on a dialogue about that culture and the importance of its artifacts?
Acts of creative expression have impacts on the people and situations that surround them.
Roger Waters’ feelings of loss and despair contributed greatly to the creation of this concept
album. The loss of his father when he was five months old was a recurring theme which also
contributed to the author’s future search for the location where his father had been killed during
the war.
Since its release in 1979 “The Wall” has continually brought attention to various political and
social situations in the world, especially educational oppression. The educational system today
needs to encourage individualism and use positive reinforcement in teaching its students, tactics
that, according to the author, were not followed during his childhood. It has also addressed
postwar Britain and its need for social and economic reform.
The album continues, to this day, to make statements condemning war. Roger Waters, as a war
orphan and ardent pacifist, expresses the silent voices of those who have also experienced the
loss of loved ones due to the senselessness of war.
The songs from this album are being performed today, according to Roger Waters, with the
intention of denouncing war and alienation. His intention is to deliver a message to promote
and protect what he refers to as the holy grail – love (Locker, 2017).
VI.
Questions: Pose questions you have after thinking deeply about this artifact. What more
do you want to know regarding:
A. The relationship between human culture and expression
B.
Question 1: What was the culture like in Great Britain during the 1940’s, where “The Wall”
began?
Question 2: How did the culture influence Roger Waters’ music and artistic expression?
C. Your personal assumptions about artifacts of this sort and why they exist
D.
Question 1: What inspired Pink Floyd, especially Roger Waters, to create “The Wall”?
Question 2: What significance does “The Wall” have in today’s social and political atmosphere?
C. How your values have shaped and are shaped by your expression and that of others
Question 1: How does listening to “The Wall” influence the values of the listeners both during
and after the release of the album?
Question 2: What impact do the lyrics have on me today compared to when I first listened to
the album upon its release?
E. The relationship between the possible intent of the creator and your own interpretation of its
meaning
F.
Question 1: How close is my interpretation of “The Wall” to Roger Waters’ intentions when he
made the album?
Question 2: How would I compare Roger Waters’ intentions when he created “The Wall” to my
interpretation of the album?
VII.
Speculate on how you would go about answering these questions. For instance, what
sorts of things would you study about these kinds of artifacts and their contexts that
might begin addressing these questions?
I would research the music and lyrics of the artifact, in addition to researching the social and
political climate of Great Britain during the time period from World War II to postwar Britain. I
would find articles, both in print and online, that describe the origins and meaning of the artifact.
I would also find information on how the artifact is being performed today and the relevance of
its message in the world’s current social and political atmosphere.
References:
Ackermann, Zeno. “Rocking the Culture Industry/Performing Breakdown: Pink Floyds The Wall and the
Termination of the Postwar Era.” Popular Music and Society, vol. 35, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1–23.
Humanities International Complete, doi:10.1080/03007766.2010.522830.
Locker, Melissa. “Roger Waters: 'War Isn't about Ideology, It's Not about Religion. It's about Money'.”
The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Mar. 2017,
www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/09/roger-waters-pink-floyd-the-wall-montreal-opera.
Nemcoff, Mark Yoshimoto. Tearing down the Wall: The Contemporary Guide to Decoding Pink Floyd The
Wall One Brick at a Time. Wordsushi Books, 2012.