Memorials Monuments Old And New

Excerpt from Memorials and Monuments, Old and New: Two Hundred Subjects Chosen From Seven Centuries After the war in South Africa hundreds of monuments of all kinds were set up, in thankful remembrance of those who there gave up their lives. Nine years later Sir James Gildea under took the pious task Of illustrating in For Remembrance: South A fried 1899 - 1902 a con siderable number of them, some set up to regiments and others to individual officers. He succeeded in his chief purpose, which was one of grateful record, but the result revealed the exceeding poverty of memorial design in Great Britain. It is clear that the artistic ability of the men Who build and adorn our churches and public buildings is not employed as it should be on the memorials which they so often contain. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there was a sound tradition which gave pleasant shape to divers sorts of memorials, Whether brasses, incised slabs, wall tablets, tombs or headstones. To-day many of the persons who are curiously called. Monu mental masons bring to their task neithereducated taste nor the knowledge of good historical examples they are often, moreover, incompetent in their craftsmanship. The more important shops which purvey marble monu ments are, if anything, rather worse, for they stereotype bad designs, which are the more offensive because more ambitious and costly. The clerical tailors who sell most of the engraved brasses have mainly succeeded in making that form of memorial the most dreary. All three sources of supply have added a new terror to death. In earlier days, when monuments were not only honourable memorials of the dead, but works of art which gave joy to the living, the finest skill of architects and sculptors, working together, went to their making. The purpose of this book is not so much to provide a historical account of the development of those types of memorials which are the most suitable for present use, as to focus attention on good examples, old and new. That is not to say that old forms Should be Copied exactly we are not so bankrupt of invention that we need be driven that way - but they give valuable guidance as to proportion, use of materials, spacing of lettering and the like. The new works are illustrated to Show that their designers have paid homage to sound traditions and have brought new thought to the solution of difficult problems. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This collection of newly published essays examines our relationship to physical objects that invoke, commemorate, and honor the past. The recent destruction of cultural heritage in war and controversies over Civil War monuments in the US have foregrounded the importance of artifacts that embody history. The book invites us to ask: How do memorials convey their meanings? What is our responsibility for the preservation or reconstruction of historically significant structures? How should we respond when the public display of a monument divides a community? This anthology includes coverage of the destruction of Palmyra and the Bamiyan Buddhas, the loss of cultural heritage through war and natural disasters, the explosive controversies surrounding Confederate-era monuments, and the decay of industry in the U.S. Rust Belt. The authors consider issues of preservation and reconstruction, the nature of ruins, the aesthetic and ethical values of memorials, and the relationship of cultural memory to material artifacts that remain from the past. Written by a leading group of philosophers, art historians, and archeologists, the 23 chapters cover monuments and memorials from Dubai to Detroit, from the instant destruction of Hiroshima to the gradual sinking of Venice.

Renowned artist and architect Maya Lin's visual and verbal sketchbook—a unique view into her artwork and philosophy. Walking through this parklike area, the memorial appears as a rift in the earth -- a long, polished black stone wall, emerging from and receding into the earth. Approaching the memorial, the ground slopes gently downward, and the low walls emerging on either side, growing out of the earth, extend and converge at a point below and ahead. Walking into the grassy site contained by the walls of this memorial, we can barely make out the carved names upon the memorial's walls. These names, seemingly infinite in number, convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, while unifying these individuals into a whole.... So begins the competition entry submitted in 1981 by a Yale undergraduate for the design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. -- subsequently called "as moving and awesome and popular a piece of memorial architecture as exists anywhere in the world." Its creator, Maya Lin, has been nothing less than world famous ever since. From the explicitly political to the un-ashamedly literary to the completely abstract, her simple and powerful sculpture -- the Rockefeller Foundation sculpture, the Southern Poverty Law Center Civil Rights Memorial, the Yale Women's Table, Wave Field -- her architecture, including The Museum for African Art and the Norton residence, and her protean design talents have defined her as one of the most gifted creative geniuses of the age. Boundaries is her first book: an eloquent visual/verbal sketchbook produced with the same inspiration and attention to detail as any of her other artworks. Like her environmental sculptures, it is a site, but one which exists at a remove so that it may comment on the personal and artistic elements that make up those works. In it, sketches, photographs, workbook entries, and original designs are held together by a deeply personal text. Boundaries is a powerful literary and visual statement by "a leading public artist" (Holland Carter). It is itself a unique work of art.

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Traces the history of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., discussing its plan and structures, and considering how the concept of memorials and memorial space has changed since the nineteenth century.

Excerpt from Memorial Art, Ancient and Modern: Illustrations and Descriptions of the World's Most Notable Examples of Cemetery Memorials I wish, also, to pay a tribute to Monument Photography for the important part it has taken in this forward movement. It has been the means of a general advancement, furnishing an exchange of ideas and inspiration to the designer and educating the public to higher ideals in memorials. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book brings together a collection of essays from scholars and cultural critics working on the meanings of monuments and memorials in the second decade of the twenty-first century, a time of great social and political change.