Imagination+Library

= __Michael and Colin's Imagination Library__ =

1. For my imagination library I would have a copy of the movie "Citizen Kane" to represent the movies and the movie business. I believe that movies and the movie business belong in the library of imagination because of the imagination it took to come up with a way of taking moments in time and preserving them and then taking that idea and finding a way to create an industry out of it. The movie industry now employs around 361,900 people and makes billions of dollars a year in profits making it a very big business. Also, films are a way to capture the imagination of the audience, like with the new 3D technology, it astounds people and make them imagine about far off places and things they could never do. The reason I would have "Citizen Kane" represent movies and the movie industry is because I believe "Citizen Kane" is one of the best films ever made and it has influenced so many movies that came after it. media type="youtube" key="zyv19bg0scg?fs=1" height="385" width="480" 2. The Breguet watch that Marie Antoinette commissioned because of how incredibly imaginative it was of her to ask for something that would have been considered way over the top and completely inconceivable at the time. She ordered a watch from the watch maker A. L. Breguet and wanted every possible function and complexity to be added to the watch. This had never been heard of. No one had done anything like it before. Nobody today even makes watches with all the possible functions. It took many years to create and when it was finally finished she had been killed, however it remains one of Breguet's most prized watches. The watch is the perfect example of imagination because of how challenging a watch it was to create and what an imaginative an idea it was to have a watch with every possible function.

3. I would put the coffin from Napoleon's tomb in my imagination library because Napoleon was able to imagine conquering all of europe something that few people had truly been able to think about at that time, especially of his rank in society. Napoleon came from minor nobility to become emperor of france. This to almost everyone at the time was an unbelievable leap in society. Part of what allowed him to become the emperor of France was his military genius, which he used to win battles all over europe. I would put his coffin in the museum because obviously you can't fit the entire tomb in the museum however his tomb shows off his incredible imagination. It is extremely beautiful and a little over the top. It rivals the great tombs of the pharaohs in egypt and is possibly one of the grandest tombs in the world. 4. I would put in Winston Churchill's cane to represent Winston Churchill. I think something representing Winston Churchill would be a good addition to the library because he was a political and inspirational genius. His speeches inspired many people. It takes imagination to be great at politics; you have to be able to see yourself and your cause in the future. It also takes a lot of imagination to come up with speeches good enough to inspire so many people. I believe Churchill must have been very imaginative because of his political and speech writing abilities, and because he's such a well recognized person I think that his cane representing the man himself is a great addition to my library of imagination. 5. "The Last Supper" painting because it's such a great piece of art and one that was quite original while also sticking to the usual theme of religion that was popular at the time. The painting was to be Leonardo de Vinci's masterpiece and he did a lot of studying and research before he started the painting and the result of that was one of the most realistic paintings of the time. After it was finished the fresco (it was painted on a wall) had a string of bad luck, it was a target for Napoleon's troops and the it was nearly bombed duringing the second world war. Recently however the painting was restored however it's not quite the same as it was originally. "The Last Supper" is a beautiful painting that is the masterpiece of the master of imagination, Leonardo de Vinci. 6. I would put in the iPhone because it's a symbol of how far we as humans have come and none of that would be possible without opposable thumbs and imagination. Only one hundred years ago nobody would have even been able to imagine a device that could let you talk face to face with friends half way across the world. Back in the sixteenth century the iPhone might have been considered witch-craft. It is such an advanced idea and it could not have been created without many other littler ideas. It probably took millions of ideas to come up with the iPhone. The iPhone is a symbol for how far humans have come and just how many ideas there have been in the world. If it weren't for less sophisticated ideas such as the invention of the telephone and then the invention of the portable phone there would be no iPhone. The iPhone then is just at the end of millions of ideas that came before it. 7. I would also include a brick from the great wall of china because of what an original idea that was. Although like the iPhone there were ideas that led up to it, like the invention of the wall and the idea of protecting yourself against your enemies, the idea of building a wall around an entire country just seems so original. No one had attempted anything like it and most people probably thought it was crazy. It took many years to create and is the longest human-made structure in the world. It was made to protect China against it's enemies and it did however, more importantly it unified China as a country. It is a symbol of how far the human imagination can go and the unexpected benefits that can follow. 8. I chose the video game "Pac Man" to be in my library because it was such an original idea. Although the technology wasn't brand new the idea was, and it was such a far-fetched idea it's hard to imagine someone coming up with it. However somebody had to have come up with it and it became a huge success world wide. It's success is because it created a new phenomenon that caused people to become frustrated but not overly frustrated making them want to get better and play more. "Pac Man" is the perfect example of why people should work with the ideas they have no matter how odd they seem to everyone else, who knows it might end up the next worldwide sensation. media type="youtube" key="FWRs6X3y310?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

9. I would include a rock from the moon because it shows how far the human imagination has come. Imagination is what helps lead to discoveries and makes progress in the world. For thousands of years people have looked into the sky and imagined what it was like and what there was out there. People imagined other species and life forms, and now thanks to inventions made by people who had ideas because of their imagination we can know more about what it space and the moon is like. However we don't know everything which still leaves room for people to imagine other planets and peoples living in far off galaxies. 10. Finally I would choose the original airplane Wright brothers originally flew because so many people for so long had imagined flying yet no had been able to do it. The Wright brothers finally broke that barrier with the first airplane. I would put this in as a tribute to all the failed flying machine that came before and all the imagination it took to come up with them. Although all the inventions failed they might have helped contribute to the plane that did not (the Wright brother's) and so the imagination was not wasted. The Wright brother's plane is a symbol of how if you don't give up and keep imagining anything is possible, even flying.

 __The Guggenheim museum, New York__
I chose the Guggenheim museum in New York as the place for my museum because of how imaginative the idea for the building is. The building itself is a piece of art with it's one of a kind design. From the outside it makes one imagine what it looks like on the inside. It's location is in New York, which is one of the most innovated and fast moving cities in the world, there are imaginative people all over New York. The inside is just as unique as the outside and the imagination of the designer is right on display. It is incredibly imaginative and beautiful and it is like an exhibit itself. I believe that you couldn't even imagine a building better than this for my imagination library.

=**__ My Top 3 Imagination Library Pieces __**= 1. iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is such an amazing piece of technology; it shows just how far the human imagination can go. The iPhone would have been inconceivable only twenty years ago. Only a few hundred years ago something like the iPhone would have been considered witch-craft. The iPhone 4 is one of the best symbols of the human imagination because it didn't just come from one idea, it came from thousands of ideas put together over a long period of time to create one product. Ideas like "why not be able to talk to people face to face" or "wouldn't it be cool to have a touch screen device on your phone". These are only two of the newer incredible ideas however some of the ideas that made the iPhone possible happened many years ago: like the idea of the telephone. Although nowhere near as advanced as the iPhone it was a necessary step. As was the idea of a portable phone. The early cell phones weighed a ton and were not practical at all but if it weren't for the old cell phones there would be no iPhone 4. I believe the iPhone 4 is more than just a fancy phone: it's a symbol of how far we've come as humans and how far we can go.

2. The Movie "Citizen Kane" "Citizen Kane" is one of the greatest, most influential movies of all time. It is as perfect a movie as is possible to make. Orson Welles's theater and radio background helped create a movie that was different from most movies of the time. It changed the way directors use sound and lighting in movies: Welles used wide angle lenses as a symbol for the main character's relationship with others. He used a different technique for the lighting than what was customary for movies of that time: the lighting was more like stage lighting. This gave a different feel to the movie, which was lighter or darker depending on the protagonist's age and energy (when Kane is younger and has more energy it is lighter; however, near the end when Kane is near his death and is all alone it is much darker). Also, the timing of the story was unconventional. Welles shows the ending at the beginning rather than the end, and then unravels the rest of the story through different character's memories, thus making the viewer have to look beyond each narrator's own prejudice and focus on the story. This also means you get the story from five different narrators. The script for "Citizen Kane" went through about seven stages of edits and caused quite a scandal. The original script was written by Herman Mankiewicz but many edits were made by Orson Welles. This caused a problem with Mankiewicz, who didn't like all the changes made to his script and didn't want Orson Welles's name to be on the screenplay credit. The issue was finally resolved after Mankiewicz was given a higher salary. There was more controversy though when newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst (1863- 1951) threatened to stop the movie from coming out, as it was a less than flattering fictionalized biography of his own life. Eventually the movie did come out to a less than good commercial run. This movie showcases the way imagination (in this case Orson Welles's creativity and genius) can affect and change the future. Welles's movie continues to influence film makers today. 3. Pac Man Pac Man is now considered a classic video game that's obviously out of date but still fun. It doesn't hold a nickel next to "Gears of War" or "Madden 11"; however, when it came out it was nothing like people had ever seen. Video games at the time were almost only space games (like "Astroids") or simple sports games (like "Pong"), but Pac Man was different. It created a whole new genre and had a large appeal with people in North America. If it weren't for Pac Man we wouldn't have the games we have today. The reason Pac Man is in my top three choices is not because it's such a weird game, but because somebody had the idea to create something addicting enough that it would have widespread appeal. The idea is surprisingly simple: make the game just hard enough that the player has to try his best, but not hard enough to make him quit. Pac Man got this formula just right creating a worldwide sensation. Business men saw just how addicting and popular Pac Man was (not to mention how much money it could make) and wanted to have a product like it. They created new video games each adding something to the last and that's how the world ended up with "Gears of War". Pac Man is a perfect example of an idea that changed the world: Pac Man created a video game addicting enough to cause problems in todays humans.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs038.htm http://www.breguet.com/en/Marie-Antoinette-Queen-of-France-1782 http://www.greatwall-of-china.com/ http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/milan-santa-maria-delle-grazie-last-supper