When Maya Lin came up with the design for the Vietnam Wall she had a vision to have the wall focus on people and not war. In a way she created a counter narrative to the general idea of the Vietnam War. Most people would think that the memorial dedicated to a war would be generally focused on the war and the scenes of the war. Maya Lin changed this around by having the memorial focus on the lives lost in the war and only that.
I think that Maya Lin's vision is a very unique one. You would often expect a war memorial to be about the war and the faceless soldiers in it, but Lin changed that. She made the memorial about the soldiers who lost their lives during the war. By having the names of each person who died etched into the wall, Lin made these soldiers no longer faceless. You always hear the number of causalities in a war but when you see the names on the wall it effects you in a different way. It shows that these soldiers who died were people not nameless, faceless fighters.
Lin's memorial is also has meanings represented by the nature around it. Her intention was to make a wound in the earth to represent the loss of the soldiers. Maya Lin said that she wants her memorial to help the people who have personal feelings about the Vietnam war to accept and admit the pain that they feel. The set up of the memorial helps show the loss of the soldiers and how big of an impact it has.
Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial is a very unique one. What stands out most to me is the simplicity of it. It's just a plain black wall with names carved in it. This is what makes it so great. All that it focuses on is the names. It's about the people who gave their lives in this war and nothing else. It's such a simple structure but it sends such a strong, direct message.
-Becky Berger
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There's currently a video of Maya Lin's latest doings on nytimes.com
She just made a wave field (artificial waves created in a field).
Who knows why. She has a minimalist approach of highlighting nature with thoughtful designs. She's a mother and she made something out of fed-ex boxes and kids toys too.
Let me find the link...
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/11/07/arts/design/1194832296918/maya-lins-wave-field.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Becky, I really enjoyed your description of Lin’s memorial as a “wound in the earth to represent the loss of the soldiers.” Lin’s design for the memorial really was centered around the idea that remembrance of war and lost loved ones could be used in a cathartic way. She wanted the memorial to be about honesty, and what could be more honest than seeing one’s face reflected back among the names of soldiers who died for your country?
With the casualties listed chronologically, the effect on those viewing the memorial is even greater. Seeing a veteran cry as he realizes the large number of soldiers that were all killed on one single day, allows for the thousands of people who died fighting for the U.S. in the Vietnam War to not just be another casualty. They are directly connected to the day which they died and the other soldiers experiencing their last moments nearby. A statement made in the film, which I thought was very fitting for this memorial, was the idea that Maya Lin’s design encompassed “all wars, all death, all living, all dead.” The reflective surface allows for those not involved in the armed forces, those who may not have even been alive during the time of the war to connect with the spirit of the time period. The Vietnam War was not just another war in a foreign country. It had a long-lasting effect as many Americans took the time to look at the state of the country and realized the need to take action and promote change.
thanks for the video link!
even while i was watching the film, i loved her approach towards the concept of remembering individuals rather than the war event.
aside from the theme of "memorial", her style of art (minimalist, as chris put it) is so stylish and attractive to me. it really makes one linger and contemplate on the intention/message behind the piece.
In my opinion, the simplicity of the wall is great. A few years ago, I went to visit the memorial and the surrounding monuments and I was surprised the look of it all. From a distance, It didn't look too great. I thought that it would just be some walls, maybe a few quotes here and there, and that's it. I was clearly wrong. As I walked closer, the names started to appear and I was amazed at how many of them there really were. The people surrounding the memorial had different reactions to it. The whole area was very quiet. Some people where visibly upset, while others were slowly walking by and taking the time to skim through the many names. The bottom area was covered with pictures, flags, and more flowers than I could count. My favorite part was that I could see my reflection as I walked by all of those names.
I think that Maya did a good job overall with the whole design of the memorial. If people take the time to look up where their loved ones name is located in the book, and then find it on the wall, I feel that it adds so much to the actual meaning of the wall. I do understand that some may feel the wall is disrespectful because of the color/design of it, but the memorial does a great job with helping people strictly remember the lives that were lost.
hi, if you're going to hotlink one of my photos, at least give me credit and a link....
After watching the film in class I don't understand why so many people were against the building of the memorial. I think people failed to take in to account the fact that Maya was using this memorial as a way of remembering the people who died not necessarily the war itself.
I also think the way she designed it played a key factor in the affect it had on the viewrs. Because she put the names in chronological order it gives each name a significant meaning so they are not seen as just another name on the list of casualties.
janine,
i think the protest was mostly articulated by the individual with the glasses - he seemed to dislike the harmony with the earth, saying that it was "hidden" like "something shameful." also, the color was offensive, because he seemed to regard black as the universal color for negativity, evil, and all that.
funny how the same piece can mean so many different things to people. to one man, the lack of an american flag seemed like an act of disrespect...at the same time, i bet there were others who had mixed feelings when they saw a patriotic symbol like the american flag after the war, and PREFERRED lin's neutral, simple design.
Maya Lins design for the Vietnam memorial was a very creative design in an extrmely simplistic way. The memorial is focused on the names of the people who gave their lives during the vietnam war, and it allows family members and friends to locate those names quickly and relatively easier.
Another point to be made about the video is that its ridiculous for people to question Maya because of her race ethnicity and gender. Her main purpose when designing this memorial was to remember the lives of many Americans. The people who protested her work were the ones who werent thinking about the people but instead worried about what they wanted, instead of what would be best for everyone. They took more time fighting the memorial, meanwhile what they should have done is appreciated the work and just accepted it.
I think that Maya Lin is a creative genius. I loved the the fact that the veterans memorial wall fit, quite literally, into the landscape and into the earth so quietly and peacefully. A memorial is supposed to be a place where people can go to grieve and to remember. The focus should be on the memories of real people, of real loved ones, not on giant pieces of metal men with made up faces.
I also thought it was brilliant the way that Maya Lin came up with all of her ideas. I mean, especially the scene on the airplane, when she picked out the quote from the Martin Luther King Jr. speech and centered that entire monument around his idea of "flowing water." Maybe I'm just not very creative, but I NEVER would have thought of something like that. I think it just goes to show how incredibly talented she is and how gifted she is to be able to see the world in such a beautiful light.
Close to 60,000 people died in the Vietnam and that's just on the American side. Who knows how many Vietnamese lost their lives. Why not make a wall for the Vietnamese? They are fellow humans too who fought for their way of life. A wall was made in the honor of the Vietnam vets. The wall made some people happy and made some people mad. People who do not like the wall shouldn't look at it. It's not like the wall is following them around. Let the people who enjoy looking at it reminisce on all of the American lives lost in the war. Let the wall remind them that their loved ones are no more.
Maya Lin art work of the Vietnam remembrance art work was quite remarkable. I was in awe by the simplicity of the artwork and the detail that brought attention to the fallen soldiers of the war. The reason behind her work is understandable; attention should be given to the men of the war by having the name carved into the wall to create a sort of “lost but not forgotten” moment. I believe that the reason some veterans had trouble with her artwork was because they wanted a piece that showed the ordeal endured in Vietnam.
I really like Maya Lin approach to memorials in general. She doesn't only look at in it an artist perspective but she researches and looks deeper into the meaning. I think many people would not have put some much time and effort as well as research efforts into designing and creating a memorial, and that is why her memorials are so unique. She has been so successful because of her unique and creative ideas. She wont just make a design in her own perspective, she takes into account the perspectives of all the people it will involved. In the end her memorials really have true meaning as well as beautiful artistic design.
I really liked the video and I appreciated her point of view about death and war. Too often war memorials focus on the outcome of war not the people left behind. The Vietnam war was filled with enough pain and loss that a monument that honored the idea of war would be inappropriate. The only way that the idea of Vietnam could have been honored was with the focus being on the many people who gave up their lives and that was achieved by Maya Lin's idea and execution of the wall.
After watching the video in class about Maya Lin, my understanding of memorials changed. Before the video, I thought of a memorial just as a statue, a tribute to something dead. However, learning about Maya Lin's work convinced me that a memorial should be a "living tribute", something that makes us feel like the memories are still present and alive when looking at it.
What amazed me the most about her work was how she approached it. Her simplicity is what makes her art truly special. The whole concept of "flowing water" from the Martin Luther King speech was genius. Maya Lin took just one phrase and interpreted it into somehting absolutely spectacular.
Even though I've been to the Vietnam War memorial before, watching the video inspires me to revisit it in the near future.
I had heard the name Maya Lin but never knew the extent of her creativity. It's ironic that her simplistic style has become architectual guiness
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