The Mystery Of The Toynbee Tiles
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The Toynbee tiles started appearing sometime during the mid-80s, first in Philadelphia and eventually into the 90s in cities across the United States and South America. The origins of these mysterious tiles with cryptic messages have remained a mystery, despite attempts by obsessed enthusiasts to uncover the truth behind the tiles.
Most tiles contain the message TOYNBEE IDEA, IN MOViE `2001, RESURRECT DEAD, ON PLANET JUPITER. Though others contain rants against the media, and fragments of insight into the story behind what drove someone to create the tiles and go through the massive effort of placing. |
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In deciphering the cryptic the message, theories have emerged, that most fans accept to be the meaning in the message. "Toynbee Idea" referring to historian Arnold J. Toynbee, and possibly the Ray Bradbury 1984 short-story named after the historian The Toynbee Convector. The connection to "Kubrick's '2001" is not only the movie and Jupiter which features in it, but author Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke's sci-fi writing influenced the movie, his 1953 short story Jupiter V has themes similar to 2001 and mentions Toynbee directly. The "Resurrect Dead" part is an interpretation of of Toynbee's belief that civilisations must meet the challenges of the future survival of humanity, eventually reversing death.
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Another interpretation of the tiles could come from a short play by David Mamet, 4 A.M., written in 1983. In the play, a radio host takes a call from a listener who believes that the movie 2001, is based on the writings of Arnold Toynbee, and makes reference to the planet Jupiter and plans to resurrect the dead there. Mamet claims that the play is entirely fictional, but there is evidence that points to a Larry King radio show in 1980, that has commonalities with the play. The call came from someone calling themselves James Morasco, in which he made statements of the very nature expressed in the play. Additionally Morasco was interviewed in an article for the The Philadelphia Inquirer is 1983, explaining his ideas. It's believed that at some point Mamet must have heard of Morasco's crack-pot ideas, and used them for the play. The name James Morasco, is thought to be a pseudonym, as there was a real person by that name living in Philadelphia, but was too old to have been the creator of the tiles and died in 2003.
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery Of The Toynbee Tiles (2011)
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Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles, is a 2011 documentary directed by Jon Foy, about the Toynbee tile phenomenon. A quite compelling documentary that not only revels in the Toynbee mystery, but chips away under the tar-mac to try and discover who the creator of the tiles is. It asks questions about the origins of the tiles, and with scant clues it attempts to solve the mystery. An engaging piece of documentary film-making, that plays out its mysterious side without over milking it, and sliding into History Channel style cheese. However in the almost obsessive desire of the documentary's main protagonist Justin Duerr to solve the mystery, the documentary falters between an attempt to put the mystery to bed and an examination of one man's obsession. Their conclusion as to who they believe the "artist" isn't conclusive, as they are unable to talk to the person they believe is the creator. So despite circumstantial and and testimonial evidence that points to the identity of the creator of the tiles, the mystery does still remain as to the true origins and intent behind the tiles.
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