Three facts as a starting point:
1. All houses in suburbia look a like,
difficult to find your destination.
2. 3D printing still hasn't reached
the consumer's market.
3. There is the tradition at weddings
to make a photo of the couple.
In an image-rich world where
people
like to see
themselves as special,
unique and famous, let them raise a
statue for themselves as newly weds
in their front yard. With statues
depicting the household in every
front yard in suburbia, it is much
easier to find your way around.
You call for directions and the wife
replies: "So nice of you guys to come
visit us! It has been since our
marriage since we've last seen you!"
You: "How do we get to your place?"
The wife: "Not so difficult. Did you
hear about that artist/wannabe
serial
killer with a giant statue in his front
yard and dozens of women face
down
scattered around? You take a right
turn after that and when you see the
mixed gay couple you take a left
turn.
You will recognise us easily. Both
our
neighbours have five kids and we
have none. And our statue is still
not
painted either. He is such a nerd, he
didn't like the paint the statue would
get at the printer, so he intends to
paint himself. He still didn't get to
doing it! It has been two years
already!"
You: "You know... perhaps we
should
postpone our visit just a little more
then?"
the Wife: "And you what they did to
the statue of our neighbour? He
started working in an abortion clinic
recently and..."
You: "Hello? Are you listening? We
are
not coming!"
The statues can become a status
icon,
the more detail, the more expensive.
The children get a new statue for
their birthday. Instead of a photo
album with pictures of their youth,
you can store a whole gallery of 18
statues in the attic. When they go to
college they bring their statue to put
in the hall way of the dormitory next
to their door. These statues are
stolen and found back tied to other
statues. You can organise
demonstrations against something
on
campus, just by putting the statues
together. Most statues are destroyed
by the end the owner graduates (a
ritual can be invented for that). Once
you marry and go live in the suburbs
you get a new statue.
A bit about the technology to make
the statues. Perhaps you know those
decorative square surfaces in which
you can place your hand or face and
the imprint of it translates into little
iron sticks that are moved forward.
The same idea, but then smaller
sticks and integrated in a man size
puppet. A laser beam scans the
shape
of the person to be portrayed and a
computer calculates how much the
little sticks on the surface of the
dummy should be moved
(hydraulically). Then a plastic
blanket
is thrown against the puppet which
assumes its shape. This plastic
becomes solid and the same is
repeated from the back side. The
two
molds are glued together and you
are
done! Everybody would want one!
It will also be a lot of fun in case of
a
divorce or other circumstances. The
statues will be run over, shot down,
kidnapped or similar things. Better
have this happen to the image of
yourself than to you physically. You
can imagine that a mistress wanting
recognition ties some of her lingerie
around the neck of the statue.