Monument Synthesis Essay

Monuments are important don't you think? They bring to like historical figures and events that we learn about daily, so it's important to make sure things are done right when memorializing a historical figure or event. including, the environment in which the monument is being place, the materials that are being utilized to create this memorial and if it can be kept up with financially years from now when it starts to wear down.

What people need to realize when memorializing historical events, is that they are creating something or someone very important to our history, so they have got to to make sure they clearly get the point across using little to no words. That means even in a painting or monument, because if it does not represent

the certain aspects of the past event in which is being recreated the way it meant to be portrayed, then it can make people misperceive the representation and the memorials purpose for being created. for example a line from Martin Luther King Jr's “I have a dream” speech: “out of mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” A 30 feet (9.1 m)-high relief of King named the stone of Hope stands past two other pieces of granite that symbolize the “mountain of despair”. visitors figuratively “pass through” the mountain of despair on the way to the stone of hope, symbolically moving through the struggle as Dr.King did during his life.
this is portraying how this monument clearly symbolizes moving through the struggle.

Another thing that should be put into consideration when commemorating a historical event is that the memorial is built to its full potential because they can affect people in a way that no historical document can.

for example the article “Savage, Kirk. Monument Wars: Washington, D.C., the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape.” States the monument manufactures its own aura. in the context of the Lincoln Memorial, the Gettysburg Addresses ceases to be mere mechanical reproduction and becomes a treasure-piece by virtue…” this source portrays the significance of a monument, and if the monument is not built to its full potential and doesn't serve its intended purpose then it can mess up the whole aura that it's meant to set off and i can have less than an impact on people than if it was built to its full potential. another example is the article named “ Memorials set in stone, and make us ask what we want to remember. Is that why we don't always embrace them?and it states” states “successful monuments make clear statements, and earn( though not always at first) wide agreement; bad ones demand more than we can give, or lack clarity, and ultimately inspire resistance, indifference or division.” now what this is telling us is that if a monument is not made to its full potential, it makes it a whole lot easier to get rejected by society. therefore, it's important to remember that once this commemoration is made and put on display there's no going back ,

so we have to make sure that it's made to its full potential and it accurately outlines the significance of the event/ person.

One of the last things to remember when bringing a historical event to life is, where it's placed is also very important.

for example in “Musser; Christine. “Preserving Memorial Museum Controversy.” says “the controversy grew from Jewish to non-Jewish communities, primarily due to the fact that a museum dedicated to the memory of the holocaust would be built in the United States, who did little to stop the Holocaust from occurring…” This source portrays the significance of where a monument is placed. This is because,as you can see placing it in the wrong area can raise some conflict, especially to those who have some sort of connection to the monument. Some people may even see it as a sign of disrespect towards themselves and those with the same beliefs. Also placing a monument in a place where many people disagree with it's presence, has a higher risk of getting vandalized or at least looked down upon. For example,John F. Kennedy was cited in Mitch Landrieu’s speech on the Removal of the Confederate Monuments in New Orleans, saying “I've never looked at them as a source of pride… it's always made me feel as if they were put there by people who don't respect us.” This quote is telling us that it's definitely important to be cautious of what monuments we're putting where and it's important to think about how others may feel about or even react towards the monumental

structure.

Something else to always think about when creating a monument is the materials you use to create the monument. For example “Obscure Monument to Lobsterdom: Washington, D.C.” is about the “obscure monument to lobsterdom:Washington, D.C” talks about how the artist’s structure was supposed to be cast in bronze and part of the Maine exhibit at the New York World’s Fair, but Maine ran out of money so he just painted his plaster structure and painted it in bronze paint and shipped off to New York, but his creation was pretty much neglected as well as vandalized because it was just a plaster model covered in bronze paint. But later on, after H Elroy Johnson died his model was finally casted in bronze and gained worth to about $30,000. As you can see the materials that are utilized when creating a memorial are important because it wasn't until the statue was casted in real bronze that it gained significance.

The final important thing to consider when creating a memorial of some sort, is to think about if you can keep up with at financially so it can continue to portray the same amount of significance as it had when it was first made. Now Kosareff, Jason. “Cemetery Faces an Uncertain Future” is about how with time people will start to care less about a monument over time leading it to being removed unless someone can keep it in good shape. For example Rosie Gutierrez, treasurer for the El Monte Cemetery Association says “unless something happens and we get the money from somewhere, I don't know how we're going to make it.” This quote of hers is portraying the significance of thinking about the financial part of memorializing someone or something. She does this by showing how stressful it can be once it's time to repair it or keep it from getting taken down, if you aren't financially prepared.

In conclusion, monuments are a huge part of society and keeping historical events and people alive. Also there are many factors to ponder when creating one, like what materials it should be made of, where would be the beat location to place it and if you can live up to the financial needs when the time comes.