Altering reality by manipulating symbols is a magical business sure enough, but these objects that are being attacked are also works of art. Once completed, works of art are worthy of consideration based solely on their level of accomplishment. An insightful and profound painting from the hand of an unpleasant person with questionable politics and despicable morals by current standards might still be pretty good. In our current climate the level of art is hardly considered, yet each object’s symbolic strength has grown immensely. Statues in the park or on the courthouse lawn that stood for years out in the elements, from folksy weather-chewed infantryman of indeterminate allegiance to lofty generals who were a year in the studio and took six months to cast, are suddenly much more significant than when they were when erected.
During this period of slightly demented politics the confederate general, Robert E Lee, as represented by a bronze statue blazes incandescent, a demonic presence that radiates oppression and tyranny across the land, so pull him down, bash and humiliate him, good riddance. Sad to say it was this same zeal that destroyed much of the art and architecture of antiquity, and history isn’t pleased. A plaque in various languages to explain simply and directly who the general was, what he did and the cause he represented, would be repurposing the indelible mark the sponsors intended by making it out of bronze, forever highlighting an episode in our history that should never be forgotten. Most of the rest of the civil war monuments are lifeless and unworthy, and should be melted down for all the new statues going up to take their places.
But wait a minute, might be a problem here. The list of candidates seems endless, forgotten and neglected heroes each worthy of memorial tribute no doubt, but where are the artists to make their likenesses and what foundry is going to cast them in incorruptible bronze for ages unborn? It may be the artists capable of such craft have been as neglected as the long list of candidates, and expertise in pouring large chunks of bronze with intricate detail has grown scarce and cost prohibitive. The plan, if there is a plan, is to tear down the offensive works of art, art that the artists themselves had hoped would last a thousand years, long after the confederacy and even the united states had been forgotten, and replace them with what? Three-D printed photo-replicas in plasticine or maybe press a button holograms that wink and smile? Whatever form the new tributes take, they probably won’t last a thousand years or even past the next new set of causes.
Better it would be to respect the art along with the artist and the workers who translated their vision into dark impervious metal, and channel all that symbol bashing fervor into organizing for institutional change, while at the same time might be nice to revere the the lost monuments stashed away in parks and under the trees to real heroes who moved us all forward.
During this period of slightly demented politics the confederate general, Robert E Lee, as represented by a bronze statue blazes incandescent, a demonic presence that radiates oppression and tyranny across the land, so pull him down, bash and humiliate him, good riddance. Sad to say it was this same zeal that destroyed much of the art and architecture of antiquity, and history isn’t pleased. A plaque in various languages to explain simply and directly who the general was, what he did and the cause he represented, would be repurposing the indelible mark the sponsors intended by making it out of bronze, forever highlighting an episode in our history that should never be forgotten. Most of the rest of the civil war monuments are lifeless and unworthy, and should be melted down for all the new statues going up to take their places.
But wait a minute, might be a problem here. The list of candidates seems endless, forgotten and neglected heroes each worthy of memorial tribute no doubt, but where are the artists to make their likenesses and what foundry is going to cast them in incorruptible bronze for ages unborn? It may be the artists capable of such craft have been as neglected as the long list of candidates, and expertise in pouring large chunks of bronze with intricate detail has grown scarce and cost prohibitive. The plan, if there is a plan, is to tear down the offensive works of art, art that the artists themselves had hoped would last a thousand years, long after the confederacy and even the united states had been forgotten, and replace them with what? Three-D printed photo-replicas in plasticine or maybe press a button holograms that wink and smile? Whatever form the new tributes take, they probably won’t last a thousand years or even past the next new set of causes.
Better it would be to respect the art along with the artist and the workers who translated their vision into dark impervious metal, and channel all that symbol bashing fervor into organizing for institutional change, while at the same time might be nice to revere the the lost monuments stashed away in parks and under the trees to real heroes who moved us all forward.
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