From the Archives: Humans are symbolic animals who create meaning from things. An eccentric movement to craft birdhouses into personal memorials has arisen spontaneously in central Florida.
Not far from where I live in central Florida, dozens of remarkable birdhouses grace a short canal along the meandering St. Johns River. Some of the birdhouses are store-bought. Some of them are handcrafted. But every birdhouse is uniquely decorated. Written messages, painted images, and personal photographs adorn them. Every small house takes the form of a memorial.
Memorialization is how humans commemorate people, events, and ideals. Miniatures, like birdhouses, suit the task of memorialization because they focus viewers’ attention on the similarities and differences between the “real” and the “replica”—between our actual lived experiences and how these experiences can be condensed into a symbol.
And the house is a powerful symbol: a shelter from the storms of life, a dwelling for family, a connection to community. The place where we eat, play, converse, grow, work, slumber, and dream, our homes shape our memories of youth and our roles as siblings and parents. The house is a symbol of who we are at our core.This photo essay explores how Americans use unique objects, in this case birdhouses, to celebrate and memorialize important people—especially the deceased—in our lives.
Humans are uniquely symbolic animals: Unlike beetles or cats, we understand that an object can stand for an idea, that one thing can represent something else entirely. A red octagon means stop. A heart means love. Along the St. Johns River, miniature birdhouses mean self, family, community, and humanity. Birdhouses treat souls.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Surgeons at NYU Langone transplanted pig hearts into two brain-dead humans | EngadgetSurgeons at NYU Langone transplanted pig hearts into two brain-dead humans
Read more »
This octopus-inspired glove helps humans grip slippery objectsThe human hand, for all its deftness, is not great at grasping slippery stuff. A new glove aims to change that.
Read more »
What Humans Can Learn From the Sea Cucumber’s Toxic ArsenalSea cucumbers are squishy and soft. They also employ lethal strategies to protect themselves.
Read more »
When AI Makes Art, Humans Supply the Creative SparkFears that artificial intelligence tools could displace creatives such as illustrators, designers, and photographers seem unfounded—for now.
Read more »
Two More Gene-Edited Pig Hearts Were Just Successfully Transplanted Into HumansTwo genetically modified pig hearts were just successfully transplanted into humans, in what is the second major move forward for pig-human heart xenotransplantation this year.
Read more »
These colossal storks flew over Indonesia’s island of 'hobbit’-size humansPaleontologists previously thought the big bird was a flightless species that had adapted to live in an isolated island ecosystem. But newly analyzed fossils—including wing bones—have changed the story
Read more »