It challenged what it means to grieve publicly. She also clearly challenged the kind of military triumphalism of a lot of war monuments, including the controversial World War II Memorial built on the National Mall two decades later.
The reaction by many government officials and veterans was that it was too somber, too reflective of loss and it was seemingly anti-war. It is these issues of forgetting and healing versus confronting and grieving that designers have to deal with. How much do we want to forget and how much do we recognize pasts that are really painful?
The concrete shafts are almost like gravestones. They range in height from 1 to 10 feet high and are closely packed, so inevitably you feel compressed into this dizzying space. It evokes visceral emotion. From the anonymity of it — there are no inscribed names of the dead since this would be a nearly impossible task — and the endless repetition of the forms, you get a sense of the scale of the history that it is commemorating. Its open edges and central location in the middle of Berlin are very important: It invites participation by anyone and individuals can interpret and experience it as they may, meaning its message is not overly scripted.
You can just go there and have the experience you need to have. At the World Trade Center memorial you have to go through layers of security and stand on numerous lines since only so many can go in at once. In a sense, like memories, these offerings shift and change over time.
The actual act of designing a memorial has to be open enough to adapt to different ways people interpret history or past events. The use of a specific image to memorialize an event, however, often limits the form and extent of the memory evoked in the memorialization process. A realistic sculpture would be only one interpretation of that time. Thus, while the representative statue presents a more patriotic and sympathetic view towards the war, it is limited by its ability to evoke a diverse spread of memories and de-personalizes the memorialization process.
Figure 3. The Three Soldiers. From United Press International, Inc. It is relatively easy to discuss memorialization for those directly affected by the Vietnam War, who can draw upon their own memories of the event to remember; however, it is more complicated to analyze the memorialization process for individuals unfamiliar with the event and who have no inherent memories to draw upon.
It requires that we ask how an event can be remembered, and therefore memorialized, when those who memorialize have no memories to draw upon.
In essence, the experience of visiting the wall becomes a personal memory in itself for the viewer that mimics actual remembrance of the Vietnam War. The form of the VVM is structured so as to evoke the feelings and emotions of the war, regardless of whether the viewer experienced the war or not.
The aim of the VVM was not to be to a political or social commentary regarding the Vietnam War, but a dialogue regarding those who died. In Schwartz Thus, viewers experience the sharp violence of the Vietnam War as they enter the memorial and confront the enormity of the loss as they descend further along the wall. Overall, the experience of visiting the wall becomes a personal memory that mimics actual memory of the Vietnam War. In effect, the searchers come to the wall not to reflect on memories of those lost like the mourners, but as an experience that creates their own emotional connection to the event.
However, this distinction highlights a key difference in the memorialization process between abstract and representational memorialization. Abstract memorials allow for those without direct memory and emotional connection to the event to develop their own memories of the event; the names themselves inspire no direct connection or memory beyond the fact that death occurred.
Those without an emotional connection to the names driven by memory will not necessarily have the same memorialization experience as those who do.
This will impair the purpose of the memorial, which is to remember; viewers cannot remember what they do not know. It provides little for those without a frame of reference outside of the history books and seems to exist simply for the memorialization process of the veterans and even only a narrow subset of that group as it depicts only infantrymen.
The soldiers in the statue look out onto the wall and provide a human face of mourning and loss. It is true that memory fades. Forgetting sets in and it is the responsibility of memorials to remind us that an event actually occurred and had an impact on life.
This demands that we ask how effective the VVM will be as a memorial over the life-cycle of memory. How will the memorial impact our collective and societal image of the Vietnam War?
In the beginning, all of the aspects of the VVM work in harmony. Each is relatively more effective in evoking or creating memory. As a whole, they can create a complete process. In practice, the form of memorial dramatically impacts the process of memorialization. In the case of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which incorporates both representational and abstract forms of memorial, the form works effectively by balancing the drawbacks of one form against the benefits of the other to achieve lasting collective memory.
While the representational elements of the design are successful in evoking memory in those with a direct relation to the event, the narrow focus of the memorial and requirement of prior memory limits the scope of memorialization possible at the site.
Overall, the elements of the design work together to maintain the relevance of that which is memorialized and to cement the event into collective memory. Cherry, Kendra. The best way to make sure a memorial says what it should about the person is to have input from that person before they pass. Pre-Need purchasing assures that you get what you want and not what someone else thinks you want. Every cemetery, and in many cases sections within in a cemetery, can have different rules and regulations.
Knowing size restrictions especially can help you in designing a monument that will work for a particular lot. Be aware of the surroundings and how you would like the monument to look in relation to others and the landscape. When designing a monument, you should have a budget in mind, but ask for everything as you would ideally like it first. You can always work backwards if the price you are given is too high for you budget.
There may be other less expensive options that still may memorialize your loved one in a similar way but not over extend yourself financially.
Realistically how many names should be planned for the stone? Monuments can be for one person, multiple people or for an entire family. Memorials should always be designed with future names in mind or you can risk designing something that may not fit all the names that you wish to add someday.
You can utilize the back of the stone and base if needed and allowed. You have the option when designing a memorial to engrave full dates with month, day, and year or just years. Depending on the room left, it may be in the best interest of the stone to limit to just years. However, we have found that full dates are more popular in the area and if there is room why not?
Dark polished colors usually have the best contrast in relation to the engraved lettering and design work. In some lighter colors, panels or coloring are necessary in order to make the information pop more.
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