Oh, the Humanity!













Oh, the Humanity!
2009
paper
dirigible 5'-0" x 5'-0" x 23'-0"
See the Video Documentation
YouTube clip of Hindenburg
"Oh, the Humanity" is an installation piece originally designed for the stairwell of Headlands Center for the Arts, CA, and later installed other spaces. The installation has a structural replica of Hindenburg which is 23 feet long, made of corrugated cardboard and forcefully squeezed into a given space. In Headlands, the Hindenburg started from the first floor section of stairs and rose to the top of the 3rd floor section. The viewers saw the piece little by little by walking upstairs or downstairs. The piece was designed bigger than the space of stairwell, and deformed and stuck into the space by its weight and size. Hindenburg is the largest manmade object ever to fly. It was designed by German Nazi, and exploded in New Jersey on May 6, 1937. The cause of the fire was unproven but there were two theories, being sabotaged by conspiracy planned within Nazi or ignited by the discharge of static electricity by accident.
On May 6 1937, Herbert Morrison from MLS Radio was reporting the arrival of Hindenburg in New Jersey when the disastrous event happened.
It's practically standing still now. They've dropped ropes out of the nose of the ship; and they've been taken ahold of down on the field by a number of men. It's starting to rain again; it's—the rain had slacked up a little bit. The back motors of the ship are just holding it just enough to keep it from— It's burst into flames! It burst into flames, and it's falling, it's crashing! Watch it! Watch it! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Get this, Charlie; get this, Charlie! It's fire—and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible!...And all the folks agree that this is terrible; this is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world!... Crashing, oh! Four- or five-hundred feet into the sky and it—it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen! It's smoke, and it's flames now; and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring-mast... Oh, the Humanity!... it's just laying there, mass of smoking wreckage...and everybody can hardly breathe and talk and... Lady, I—I—I'm sorry. Honest: I—I can hardly breathe... Listen, folks; I—I'm gonna have to stop for a minute because... I've lost my voice. This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed.
– Herbert Morrison, describing the events, as broadcasted to WLS radio.