Martin Luther King Memorial: Tribute or Travesty?

[Nerys Ghemor]

Yeah...but Terminators aren't big on the whole "love one another" thing.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Hey, you never know...

Mrs. Terminator: Where are you going? Out with the T-800's to play poker again??
Mr. Terminator: ...I'LL BE BACK.

 

[Amaris]

I do kind of like the way he seems to be looking disapprovingly down at the Jefferson Memorial, given Jefferon's notorious willingness to compromise his Enlightenment principles when it came to black slavery.

Jefferson Memorial's on MLK Memorial's shit list.

 

[Holdfast]

Yeah...but Terminators aren't big on the whole "love one another" thing.

They're not bad, they just weren't hugged enough when they were little baby silicon chips.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

That's actually what I was about to post here--the connection to Egyptian art.

Which again seems like a fail on the part of the artist. Dr. King was very, very well-versed in Biblical imagery, very sensitive to it, and all of his speeches show just how deeply imbued it was in his style of communication.

Given that, shouldn't he evoke Moses ("Let my people go!") far more than Pharaoh???

As pointed out, it was based on an actual pose of MLK. So it was probably closer to that than the Pharaoh.

I do kind of like the way he seems to be looking disapprovingly down at the Jefferson Memorial, given Jefferon's notorious willingness to compromise his Enlightenment principles when it came to black slavery.

Jefferson Memorial's on MLK Memorial's shit list.

I think it's on everybody's shit list. Seriously, it's not at all convenient to get to.

 

[scotpens]

. . . Dr. King was very, very well-versed in Biblical imagery, very sensitive to it, and all of his speeches show just how deeply imbued it was in his style of communication.

Given that, shouldn't he evoke Moses (“Let my people go!”) far more than Pharaoh???

Now, that would be a cool monument!

 

[Trekker4747]

I like that aspect of it, myself. It symbolizes that his work is not done..

That interpretation was not lost on me.

Still, in his time he did do amazing work and did a lot to progress his movement. Whatever the case, it's still good to see him finally get a sculpture erected in his name in D.C.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

. . . Dr. King was very, very well-versed in Biblical imagery, very sensitive to it, and all of his speeches show just how deeply imbued it was in his style of communication.

Given that, shouldn't he evoke Moses (“Let my people go!”) far more than Pharaoh???

Now, that would be a cool monument!

To put it in Trek terms, he has the awesomeness of The Sisko in that one.

(Only THE most awesome Trek captain of all time!)

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I like that aspect of it, myself. It symbolizes that his work is not done and that he didn't do it alone, but as part of a larger movement. I just think a less passive pose would have been more interesting and appropriate.

I think the contemplative pose fits well with the idea you describe, though - not dissimilar to the pose seen in this photo of King from 1966. The sculpture seems to me to present him surveying what has been accomplished thus far, but at the same time seeing what remains unfinished. As you say, it's a monument to him, but also a monument to a movement he was instrumental in forming then and one which still has a purpose today.

True. Good point.

I think it's pretty clear that whatever one feels about the final design, it has succeeded in provoking some interesting interpretations and emotions from people, which is what great art should do.

Yeah.

The WW II evoked some controversy before it opened, not so much since.

 

[NuFan]

Tribute.

 

[RandyS]

That's the best design they could come up with?

What's wrong with it? Reminds me a little of Mount Rushmore.