A new memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. was publicly revealed today on the Mall between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials in Washington D.C. to a bit of controversy, but mostly welcome arms. The 30ft tall statue symbolizes a link between the brain (jefferson) and the vision (lincoln) of our country, bridging the gap from potential to realization.
The controversy came from who made it, and also a bit of how the Dr. King actually looks. The artist Lei Yixin (don't even try to pronounce that) is a communist, a fact that would have King "turning over in his grave if he knew" said artist Ed Dwight, who was on the projects early planning team. Also, King has a rather, well, pissed off look on his face. His brow is lowered, eyes are a bit squinted and his lips seem rather pursed, a view some people don't equate with the peaceful agitator of the civil rights movement. Some people even said he looked a bit asian.
Well I dunno...as an art piece, I'm not impressed (as with most gov. art projects). It's pretty straight-forward and basic as a concept as well as with presentation. I don't think the style is very interesting or unique and doesn't fool me into feeling like he is emerging from the stone block. The "mountains of despair", the background sculptures, give me no sense of despair and feel fairly pretty and relaxing as far as mountains go. Also, while King was known for his fire, passion, and controversy, anger is not the emotion I would equate with him. I understand that confrontation was a large part of what he did , but the image of the man that I see is of a controlled, pensive, and serious man. What I see here is a bit to much on the side of anger and intensity, and with his arms crossed, almost a sense of stubbornness (in a bad way) and arrogance...and with his eyes squinted like they are, he does have a bit of an eastern look to him...It jsut doesn't hit me as a self-reflection-unducing piece. It's a nice tribute, but completely falls short of the emotion that a tribute to this man, and everything he stood for, should have...
But that's just me....read about the sculpture here....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44228158/ns/us_news-life/#.TlK-nmAkLKF
The controversy came from who made it, and also a bit of how the Dr. King actually looks. The artist Lei Yixin (don't even try to pronounce that) is a communist, a fact that would have King "turning over in his grave if he knew" said artist Ed Dwight, who was on the projects early planning team. Also, King has a rather, well, pissed off look on his face. His brow is lowered, eyes are a bit squinted and his lips seem rather pursed, a view some people don't equate with the peaceful agitator of the civil rights movement. Some people even said he looked a bit asian.
Well I dunno...as an art piece, I'm not impressed (as with most gov. art projects). It's pretty straight-forward and basic as a concept as well as with presentation. I don't think the style is very interesting or unique and doesn't fool me into feeling like he is emerging from the stone block. The "mountains of despair", the background sculptures, give me no sense of despair and feel fairly pretty and relaxing as far as mountains go. Also, while King was known for his fire, passion, and controversy, anger is not the emotion I would equate with him. I understand that confrontation was a large part of what he did , but the image of the man that I see is of a controlled, pensive, and serious man. What I see here is a bit to much on the side of anger and intensity, and with his arms crossed, almost a sense of stubbornness (in a bad way) and arrogance...and with his eyes squinted like they are, he does have a bit of an eastern look to him...It jsut doesn't hit me as a self-reflection-unducing piece. It's a nice tribute, but completely falls short of the emotion that a tribute to this man, and everything he stood for, should have...
But that's just me....read about the sculpture here....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44228158/ns/us_news-life/#.TlK-nmAkLKF
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