phoDak:::
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Monday, July 19, 2010
Sioux Falls, SD
Experience, Effects
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K
and I went to see a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. What would be, by itself, a sobering thing to look at is even more so because I'm reading David Halberstam's
Best and Brightest
, a comprehensive history of the conflict. No matter who you are, looking at the names of thousands of Americans who died (and imagining even greater numbers of Vietnamese) should provoke a response. Tolstoy said "art is the transfer of emotion" and on his benchmark the monument succeeds if a person allows themself to consider what each name on that wall meant: a son, a father, a brother -
I think some things, including some burdens, belong to everyone; they are public. To me this is the role of public space and public art: to deliver on that contract that we are connected and help us feel things in a collective way.
What I think is most significant about the wall is that it's not instructive; it doesn't tell you how you should feel. You can see thousands of names and walk away unmoved; you can try to read them all; you can cry or make jokes - what you do is more about you than the art itself.
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Comments:::
23-Jul-2010 |
Dave
I think this is one of the best examples you could use to make your point. War is a burden shared by everyone, and there are many emotions that come out of it (especially Vietnam). No matter what the political views are, or whether it is thought to be right or wrong, the fact is that each name represents the cost of fighting, and that's something that all Americans share.
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