MLK Memorial - Washington DC

[Rubin Farr]

this is one of the greatest monuments i've seen in a while on the mall, and long overdue for such a transformative human being.

 

http://www.telegraph...Washington.html

 

[SR4]

ima have to pay it a visit soon, when i get some gas money and some free time.

[jules]

pretty slick

[delet...]

It's outside to get weathered by the elements, not in a greco roman temple to be venerated for all time. The stone is white. And the statue (his dream) is unfinished.

 

All sorts of messages going on there.

 

;-p

 

When i first saw a pic of it though, i thought "Holy crap, they've carved out a mountain ala rushmore. WOW !!"

[patternoverlap]

MLK is looking pretty gangsta. Beautiful monument.

[Guest dese manz hatin]

MLK ain't nuthin to fuck with

[Bob Dylan]

Lots of beautiful Prunus x Yedoensis all around it will make this memorial beautiful 10 years from now.

[Rubin Farr]

Yes, the concept model really is beautiful. A very garden like atmosphere.

[Braintree]

Daps.

[awepittance]

i wonder if he himself would approve of this, before he died his direction had changed to be much more broad activism focusing not on race but on the Vietnam war and poverty. With 3 wars going on in this country right now under a black president with the largest disparity of rich vs poor in the history of the statistics in the US, i don't know if he would.

[Npoess]

Kind of looks like Jay-Z

[jules]

Kind of looks like Jay-Z

 

[pattern recognition]

[delet...]

wow jules.

[lumpenprol]

Hate to break with the consensus, but I think that sculpture of him is embarrassingly crap. Bad likeness, bad execution - somewhere, Michaelangelo is laughing

[Guest Wall Bird]

For all of the European Watmmers;

 

Was their ever an equivalent civil rights movement in your respective countries, or did Europe somehow avoid developing equally repressive systems towards black people and other racial minorities?

[jules]

For all of the European Watmmers;

 

Was their ever an equivalent civil rights movement in your respective countries, or did Europe somehow avoid developing equally repressive systems towards black people and other racial minorities?

 

[Candiru]

For all of the European Watmmers;

 

Was their ever an equivalent civil rights movement in your respective countries, or did Europe somehow avoid developing equally repressive systems towards black people and other racial minorities?

 

Holocaust?

[jules]

[SR4]

afaik, Europe has never had a problem with minorities.

[lumpenprol]

lol

[awepittance]

Hate to break with the consensus, but I think that sculpture of him is embarrassingly crap. Bad likeness, bad execution - somewhere, Michaelangelo is laughing

 

The surprise selection of a Chinese sculptor for King's statue in 2007 eventually drew protests. A black painter launched a petition to try to force a change, saying black artists should have first rights to interpret the memory of the man who did so much for his fellow African-Americans. A bronze sculptor from Denver complained he was pushed aside. Human rights advocates chimed in, saying King would have detested China's record on civil liberties.

Executive architect Ed Jackson Jr., 62, who oversaw the design process for 15 years, concedes he may have been naive to think others would easily see the power of sculptor Lei Yixin's concept and the mastery of his work.

"Politics can actually change the color of your lens ... and some of the comments were out of ignorance," Jackson said.

Still, the memorial foundation maintained King was inclusive of all people and never wavered from the selection of a Chinese sculptor. Jackson said he tried to insulate Lei, even as a federal arts panel criticized the design as too "confrontational."

Early tours of the memorial by church leaders and civil rights veterans gave Jackson a sense of affirmation he made the right choice.

[Guest Coalbucket PI]

Something seems vaguely ridiculous to me about people insisting it be done by a black sculptor. Also suggesting that Chinese artists should be ignored due to the human rights record of their country.

[jules]

that's not vague at all, it's ignorant.

[delet...]

Outsourcing the job to cheap chinese labour, the unsubtle messaging continue. Although eventually the controversy will die down and no one will give a toss.