Crafting Monuments: Considerations and Controversies

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Question 1 A monument is used to memorialize events or people, whether it is used to honor moments of great achievement or to pay tribute to deep sacrifice. Several factors are considered when creating a monument or a memorial; materials, design, and location. Each factor needs to be carefully considered to make a monument memorable and intriguing. The creator of a monument needs to consider the location of it. The monument should be in a location that fits what it is honoring, or commemorating. The Holocaust museum, for example, is located in the National Mall Park in Washington, D.C.. Quite a few people protested to why a museum dedicated to the holocaust should be placed in the United States, "who did little to stop the Holocaust from …show more content…

The design of a memorial needs to be intriguing, representative, and appropriate for it's environment. Creating a memorial that is tasteful and intriguing will help draw people towards it. When designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lin decided that the memorial should be only the names of the veterans, and that there was, "no need to embellish the design further"(Source G). Lin also chose black granite to construct the memorial. The surface of the granite was intriguing, reflective, and peaceful. Instead of names, speeches were carved into the Lincoln Memorial(Source A). The Lincoln Memorial is said to only be representative of Abraham Lincoln. The memorial is composed of, "a colossal marble statue and the text of two speeches carved on enormous panels, all housed in a neoclassic temple" (Source A). The memorial is not paying homage to a deep sacrifice, it is entirely representing the greatness of Lincoln. Along with the Lincoln Memorial, the monument of Christopher Columbus in Riverside Park, Easton, Pennsylvania, is another memorial which is representative(Source B). In the statue of Columbus, he is posed heroically. This stance is to represent the heroism and courage Columbus displayed when founding America. Another memorial that has a breathtaking design is the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.(Source E). Placing the museum on The Mall in Washington, D.C., the …show more content…

The material should be able to last for a long time and withstand any weather conditions. H. Elroy Johnson of Harpswell, Maine, posed for a sculpture titled "The Maine Lobsterman" in 1939(Source F). The sculpture was supposed to be cast in bronze to be taken to the 1939 New York World's Fair, to be in the Maine exhibit, but Maine ran out of money to finish the sculpture. The model that was shipped to New York was made of plaster with a coat of bronze paint covering the plaster. After the sculpture returned to Maine, and "spent several decades being moved from city hall to museum to museum" it ended up in a warehouse, and eventually, was eaten by rats. Materials really do matter, if the sculpture had originally been cast in bronze, it wouldn't have been eaten by rats, and could have lasted a very long time. Another monument, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was formed with close consideration to the material used to build it(Source G). Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, chose to build the monument out of black granite. Lin chose granite because the surface was reflective and made the monument itself peaceful. She hoped the monument would be looked at not as just a wall, but "as an edge to the earth, an opened side". Granite was one of the best choices for this monument because it lasts a very long time, and can withstand the weather conditions throughout the

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