When was the keyboard monument unveiled? In Yekaterinburg there is a unique monument to a computer keyboard

The keyboard was created in 2005 as a special project of the festival " Long stories Yekaterinburg" based on the project of Anatoly Vyatkin. The producers and curators of the project were Nailya Allahverdieva and Arseniy Sergeev, who at that time represented the cultural agency ArtPolitika. The production of the project was carried out with the technical support of the Atomstroykompleks company. Despite the high popularity among citizens and guests of the city, the project never acquired the official status of a monument or landmark. In fact, not recognized by local authorities as a culturally significant object, the keyboard was nevertheless included in many unofficial guides to Yekaterinburg. With her, in the spring of 2011, painting began on the asphalt of the “Red Line”, passing through 32 main attractions of the city center.

Design features

The monument is a replica of a concrete keyboard on a scale of 30:1. Consists of 104 keys made of concrete weighing from 100 to 500 kg, arranged in a QWERTY / YTSUKEN layout. The keys are located in recesses at intervals of 15 cm. The total area of ​​the project is 16 × 4 m. The surface of the keys is flat with raised symbols of the alphabet and functional symbols, placed in the same order as on a regular computer keyboard.

Cultural features and assessments

The concrete “Keyboard” can be considered simultaneously both as a fetish of the computer era and as an industrial “rock garden”, a large-scale environmental experiment that forms a new communication environment on the territory of the city embankment of Yekaterinburg. Each button on the concrete keyboard is also a makeshift bench. The monument has become a cultural landmark of the city’s modern image and a new “brand”.

A positive response to the project is observed among all segments of the city's population. Monitoring the reaction of passers-by on the embankment showed that in 80% of cases the reaction of passers-by is enthusiastic, in other cases it is interested. Residents of the city are proud of the implementation of such a project on the territory of the city, in which they are primarily attracted by the non-standard implementation and modernity of the image.

In February 2019, the Yandex company published statistics on search queries of Russians related to museums, attractions and exhibitions. In the ranking of monuments, the monument to the keyboard was in 2nd place: it was ahead only of the Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg, the third was the monument to Minin and Pozharsky on Red Square in Moscow.

Object security issues

Before June 2011, several keys from the monument were stolen (keys F1, F2, F3, Y), and the Apple logo was applied to the ⊞ Win key.

In this regard, in June 2011, the head of the public art program of the Perm Museum contemporary art PERMM Nailya Allahverdieva proposed moving the keyboard monument to neighboring Perm. According to her, no one cared about it in Yekaterinburg, but the Perm museum was very interested in this art object.

But through the efforts of the Yekaterinburg initiative group, which included Evgeny Zorin, Lidia Karelina, and director of Litek LLC Nadezhda Zaostrovnykh, on August 17, 2011, the lost keys were restored. The renovation of the monument was made possible thanks to Anton Borisenko, director of the Union Trucks company, which sells and services trucks. The author of the monument, Anatoly Vyatkin, was present during the restoration work.

According to the project coordinator, Nadezhda Zaostrovnykh, thanks to the renovation, the famous Ekaterinburg landmark will now definitely not leave for Perm. “But the problem remains, I would like the largest keyboard in the world to be included in the register of monuments, protected by the state and no one could ever take it away from us. To do this, we have compiled a collective appeal to add the keyboard monument to the register cultural values, On July 30, 2011, on System Administrator Day, we collected more than 100 signatures and on August 4, 2011, transferred everything to the city administration. We are still waiting for an answer,” noted Nadezhda Zaostrovnykh.

At the instigation of Evgeny Zorin and like-minded people, regular cultural events began to be held at the monument, the main one of which is the so-called annual “Subbotnik on the Keyboard”. During the cleanup work, keys are cleaned and painted, and championships are also held in throwing non-working computer mice at a distance, lifting a bunch of hard drives, etc. In 2017, two volunteers from the USA took part in the painting procedure. Also on the last Friday of July, Sysadmin Day is officially held at the keyboard with similar competitions.

The monument to the keyboard in Yekaterinburg is located on the Iset embankment from Gorky Street. Address- st. Gorky, 14a.

Unofficially, this is the largest keyboard in the world - its size is 4 by 16 meters, and the total weight of the keys is more than 100 tons. The monument appeared in October 2005 as part of the Long Stories of Yekaterinburg festival. The author of the project is artist Anatoly Vyatkin.

The huge keyboard is made of durable vandal-resistant concrete, this exact copy a regular computer keyboard in the QWERTY/YUTSUKEN layout on a scale of 30:1 - 104 keys, from Escape to “calculator”. On average, the keys weigh 100 kg, except for the space bar, which weighs half a ton. This does not prevent vandals from sometimes picking them out, or volunteers from restoring them. For the first time, the f1 and f2 keys disappeared almost immediately after opening the monument. By design, the keys are also benches. A regular keyboard brings people together and helps them communicate online, while a concrete keyboard brings them together in reality. Unfortunately, you can’t sit on cold, hard concrete for long. And you can’t have a get-together with beer and chips. After all, it’s the center of the city, they can take you to the police for this. But you are welcome to rest a little “on the keyboard” during a long walk around the city. Although it is much more pleasant to simply walk on the keys and jump from one to another.

An urban legend says that if you “jump” your deepest wish and at the end jump on Enter, your wish will definitely come true. It's not that easy - the keyboard is really very large.

Another way is to reach the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys with your friends and “reboot”. Quarreling lovers thus “reboot” the relationship.

Parents say that thanks to it, children learn the alphabet much faster. In general, the city loves the keyboard very much; it is a truly “folk” art object.
Anatoly Vyatkin said that the idea of ​​​​installing a monument to the keyboard came to him unexpectedly. He worked on a project for international exhibition, spent a lot of time at the computer. At some point, the thought occurred to him that today the keyboard is the same “common place” as, for example, a frying pan. Both are found in almost every home.

“Klava” appeared thanks to sponsors and lives at the expense of volunteers who annually organize cleanup days; no money is allocated for it from the city budget. Subbotniks began to be held when there were rumors that the keyboard could be moved to Perm. Then it was missing several keys, and instead of the Windows logo, someone drew Apple logo. The keyboard was repaired by a group of enthusiasts, and it has been the same since then. The residents of Yekaterinburg proved that they would never part with her, much less give her to Perm.
The monument was not made as a permanent monument, but as a landscape one, without a foundation. Landscape sculptures were new to Yekaterinburg at that time, and to this day the keyboard is the only land art object in the city. Gradually, the concrete letters began to sink into the soil. Nevertheless, all these years the giant keyboard has not lost popularity, it is loved just like that, and was even included in the Red Line route, although it has not yet been given the status of an official city landmark.

The keyboard, on the one hand, is a symbol industrial age and European values. On the other hand, there is a kind of oriental rock garden in which each element exists on its own and can be replaced. For this reason, the author refused the proposal to install the keys on a solid foundation. Like the whole of Yekaterinburg, the keyboard unites Europe and Asia. Even the layout on it is both Russian and English.

Where is the monument to the keyboard? Let us remind you that the monument to the keyboard in Yekaterinburg is located on the Iset embankment from Gorky Street, in the Arboretum area, in the middle between the Circus and Plotinka.

Nearby is the Oblique House, also known as the System Block, also known as the Chuvildin House, an architectural monument of the early 20th century, address Gorky, 14a.

From the Geologicheskaya metro station, go towards the Circus, cross Kuibysheva Street to the Arboretum, turn right, go down to the embankment at the bridge, walk along the river for a few minutes. Next to the keyboard there is a pedestrian bridge over the Iset.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from Plotinka to the keyboard: along the river in the opposite direction from the pond.

Monument to the keyboard on the map of Yekaterinburg.

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The Keyboard Monument in Yekaterinburg is the most original and unusual landmark of the city. The composition is dedicated to one of man's great inventions - a device for entering information known as a keyboard. The monument to the keyboard is the first sculpture realized in Yekaterinburg, made in the style of land art. It is located on the left bank of the Iset River, on the site between two streets Kuibyshev and Malysheva.

The monument to the keyboard appeared in October 2005. The idea of ​​​​creating such an original composition belongs to the artist Anatoly Vyatkin. The curators of the project were N. Allahverdieva and A. Sergeev. The Atomstroykompleks company was chosen as the contractor.

The Yekaterinburg Keyboard Monument is an exact concrete copy of a computer keyboard, made on a scale of 1:30, consisting of 104 concrete keys arranged in a QWERTY layout. The placement of the concrete keys matches a standard keyboard. The keys are mounted in recesses, the interval between which is about 15 cm. The weight of some of these keys reaches 500 kg. The total area of ​​the project is 64 sq.m.

I immediately fell in love with the monument local residents. Quite often, city residents use the “keys” as benches or a background for photo shoots, and the house that is located nearby is nicknamed the “system unit.” The concrete “buttons” were repeatedly stolen, which is why the sculpture had to be repaired.

Soon after the opening of the monument to the keyboard, its own beliefs and signs arose around it. They say that if you type your wish on this keyboard, jumping from letter to letter, and then put both feet on the “Enter” key, your wish will definitely come true. However, this will not be as easy as it seems at first glance, since the scale of the keyboard is quite impressive. Culturologists see in this monument a symbolic combination of Asian and European values.

Currently, the keyboard monument in Yekaterinburg does not have the official status of a monument, but Yekaterinburg residents really hope that it will soon be included in the list of cultural values ​​of the city.

Monument to the keyboard in Yekaterinburg (Ekaterinburg, Russia) - description, history, location, reviews, photos and videos.

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In October 2005, on the left bank of the river. Iset of the Sverdlovsk region a unique land art object appeared - a monument to a keyboard on a scale of 30:1. The author of the project, Yekaterinburg resident Anatoly Vyatkin, spent a month cutting keys out of concrete and another week installing them on the embankment hometown. The keyboard was installed in the QWERTY layout using special equipment: the weight of standard keys varied from 80 to 500 kg, and the space bar weighed no less than a car - 1.5 tons.

The finished installation gained unprecedented popularity among citizens and tourists, who adapted the design elements into benches for relaxation. Unfortunately, the keyboard did not escape the fate of the majority Russian monuments: vandals uprooted the F1, F2, F3 and Y keys from the ground and took them to an unknown direction, and put a logo on the Windows key Apple. In 2011, the monument was restored by enthusiasts. The collection of signatures in favor of including the installation in the list of culturally significant objects of the city and region has now been completed. The corresponding project has been sent to local authorities for consideration.

What to see

The concrete keyboard consists of 104 keys located at a distance of 15 cm from each other. Installation size 16x4 sq. m blended so organically into the surrounding landscape that the townspeople renamed nearby objects in a “computer key”: r. The iset turned into an I-network, and the rectangular stone building on the side of the monument began to be called the “system block.”

Enthusiasts are in favor of installing monuments to a computer mouse and modem next to the keyboard, but the matter has not yet gone further than planning.

The keyboard monument has become so firmly ingrained in the everyday life of the townspeople that no one will remember when and at whose instigation the famous “Keyboard Subbotniks” began to be held near it throughout Yekaterinburg - events for painting and cleaning keys, accompanied by various competitions such as throwing non-working computer mice and lifting bundles of hard drives weighing several kg.

On ordinary days, tourists crowd around the keyboard: according to local belief, those who can “type” their innermost desire on it by jumping on the keys will certainly find what they want. This is not as easy to do as it seems, but there is no end to those who want to try their luck. According to another belief, those who “press” the Cntr, Alt and Delete keys in succession will “reboot” life and open a new, happy page in it. If this turns out to be beyond the power of someone, you can simply press Delete - and remove from your life everything that is unnecessary and outdated. Whether this is true or not is difficult to judge, however, townspeople are no longer surprised when they notice a man jumping on the keys - another seeker of happiness.

Practical information

The monument was erected in Yekaterinburg, opposite the street. Gorky, between houses 14a and 28a. You can get to it by bus No. 19 or trolleybuses No. 1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 15 (stop “Federation of Trade Unions”).

Description

In the center of Yekaterinburg, on the embankment of the Iset River, there is a “monument to Klava” - a concrete monument that reproduces a computer keyboard on a scale of 30:1. This is the largest computer keyboard in the world. The monument consists of 86 keys, weighing from 100 to 500 kg, made of concrete. The keys are located in recesses, with an interval of 15 cm. The total area of ​​the project is 16 x 4 sq.m. The surface of the keys is flat with raised alphabet and function symbols, arranged in the same order as on a regular computer keyboard. The project was made in 2005 by the Ural artist Anatoly Vyatkin as part of the Long Stories of Yekaterinburg 3 festival.

Story

From a historical point of view, the computer entered our lives relatively recently. And the monument to the keyboard in Yekaterinburg is especially young, its opening took place on October 5, 2005. The creation of Ekaterinburg artist Anatoly Vyatkin is installed on the second tier of the Iset River embankment, from Gogol Street. 86 concrete keys weighing about 80 kilograms each (but the “space” key weighs as much as half a ton) are placed in the same order as standard (qwerty) keyboards.

The installation of the monument took place as part of the Ural Urban campaign “Long Stories of Yekaterinburg”. According to the organizers of this festival, the townspeople reacted positively to the appearance of the monument. People constantly come to the embankment to take unique photos sculptural composition. Young children are very happy, they happily jump on the “letters”, and parents say that you can learn the alphabet here.

In 2011, the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art PERMM proposed moving the keyboard to Perm because it was not being properly cared for in Yekaterinburg. Then it was missing several keys, and instead of the Windows logo, someone drew the Apple logo. The keyboard was repaired by the initiative group, and it remained in Yekaterinburg. Since then, cleanup work has been regularly held, during which the keys are painted and restored if necessary.

Residents of the Urals believe that the concrete keyboard can be considered as “an experiment that forms a new communication environment on the territory of the city embankment.” The new monument quickly began to influence the entire surrounding area. The old stone house located nearby is now called the “system block”. But for several centuries now, the main city river Iset, the meaning of its name has long been lost to modern residents, thanks to the activity of forums regarding the appearance of the “Stone Clava”, is now written as “Iset”. There are also ideas to place monuments to the modem nearby, as well as to immortalize a computer mouse in the monument.

The project cleverly combines the values ​​of Western and Eastern civilizations. This is not only a monument to an object of mass consumption, embodying a certain stage in the development of Western technological culture, but also a landscape composition that reproduces the tradition of the eastern rock garden. Thus, the Ekaterinburg keyboard is quite suitable for the territory where the border between Europe and Asia passes.