The 11th 11th
11th September 2012
Jeff Jarvis puts his finger on it.
Yes, we must remember. That is why I had insisted on returning in years past: so I could remember and give thanks for surviving that day. But the memorial does more than just remember. It closes up the open wound on the city but leaves the scar there. It refuses to let life return to the place where death occurred. Worse, it creates a new fortress of fear with security and scanners around it. Worse yet, one exits that fortress and returns to life through the gift shop.
That’s what happens when such things are put in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats. They build a monument to themselves rather than to what is being remembered, and that is why it takes so long, because of all the pissing contests between massive narcissistic egos. You want a good example of a monument? The Vietnam Memorial in DC — done by a Yalie, I’ll point out — is perfect.
September 11th, 2012 at 06:51
I always felt the Arizona Monument at Pearl Harbor was the perfect memorial, though The Wall runs a very close second.
September 11th, 2012 at 10:10
Count the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington in that short list. Simple, compelling, and all about the subject, not the builders.
September 11th, 2012 at 10:59
In an age of proliferating public Not-Art, I suppose simplicity and good taste is too much to hope for.