"If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost."
(At some point soon, I will write a post on the Arizona shootings, and this speech).
Showing posts with label absence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label absence. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Friday, June 25, 2010
On Nocturnal Statue Removals
A statue of Joseph Stalin has been removed from its perch overnight (the short report follows). For those interested in the subject, I recommend this more extensive article published by the BBC, which outlines similar dictator-removal acts. I am all for the removal of dictatorial statues and symbols, but I think these nighttime removals are a bit sneaky, and don't really help install confidence in local politics. Covering up a video camera, doing the removal under a tarp or stopping by at 3 a.m. with a few pulleys and chains in itself suggests an authoritarian or paternalistic stance toward memory. It almost seems as if the state is telling the people, "we don't trust you, so we have to take matters into our own hands." These removals also beg the question, "what happens to these objects once they are removed?" Where are they stored? Who will see them, if anyone? What will replace these statues? How will these replacement objects be received?
I am reminded of a recent article from the Spanish press on the work of Fernando Sánchez Castillo (Madrid, 1970), who created several pieces on the Francoist legacy now showing as part of the PhotoEspaña exhibit. The pieces include 3 photographs, a video and a spinning head of Francisco Franco. In the article, Sánchez Castillo spoke of the difficulties he encountered when hoping to gain access to remnants of the Franco era. In 2002, the artist began a project - really, a sort of campaign -- that involved having several blind friends visit and touch statues of the dictator that had been removed upon the passage of the Law of Historical Memory (2007). However, only one government authority - the Barcelona city hall -- granted him permission to peruse the dictatorship storage unit. As the artist put it, the challenges he faced show that "we still have a serious problem with our history: we don't know what to do with it."
I am reminded of a recent article from the Spanish press on the work of Fernando Sánchez Castillo (Madrid, 1970), who created several pieces on the Francoist legacy now showing as part of the PhotoEspaña exhibit. The pieces include 3 photographs, a video and a spinning head of Francisco Franco. In the article, Sánchez Castillo spoke of the difficulties he encountered when hoping to gain access to remnants of the Franco era. In 2002, the artist began a project - really, a sort of campaign -- that involved having several blind friends visit and touch statues of the dictator that had been removed upon the passage of the Law of Historical Memory (2007). However, only one government authority - the Barcelona city hall -- granted him permission to peruse the dictatorship storage unit. As the artist put it, the challenges he faced show that "we still have a serious problem with our history: we don't know what to do with it."
From: The New York Times
June 25, 2010
Statue of Stalin Removed from His Birthplace
By ELLEN BARRY
MOSCOW — Citizens in the Georgian city of Gori, the birthplace of Stalin, woke on Friday to discover that a towering statue of the dictator erected 48 years ago had been removed from the central square during the night, in another potent symbol of Georgia’s rejection of its Soviet legacy.
Georgian authorities took the statue down under conditions of complete secrecy, temporarily blocking the lens of a closed-caption camera that offers a live video feed from the square, according to the online news service civil.ge.
The city was badly battered by Russian bombing raids during the 2008 war, and officials said they would replace the statue with a monument to victims of Russian aggression. Still, the move is likely to anger some in Gori, which vigorously capitalized on its status as Stalin’s birthplace throughout the Soviet era and still offers a range of exhibits and impersonators to nostalgic tourists.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Spielberg to produce documentary series on WTC rebuilding
The re-building of the Twin Towers has already generated a great deal of controversy -- what the design should look like; what sort of structure it ought to be; what the memorial component might entail; whether or not to rebuild at all; whose design ought to prevail, etc. etc. Now, Hollywood director Steven Spielberg will be following the reconstruction process in a new TV documentary series. The structure, previously called "Freedom Tower" (some other time, I will reserve a post just for this name!), is slated to be completed in 2013, so stay tuned for further posts on this front. I've included a few recent YouTube videos that illustrate the current state of the site (second video includes rather Hollywood-esque soundtrack):
From: BBC News
Spielberg to make Ground Zero doc
Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg is to produce a TV documentary series on the rebuilding of New York's World Trade Center, to be shown in 2011.
Rebuilding Ground Zero will chronicle the engineering and building of the skyscraper being built on the site of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
It will also pay tribute to those who died in the 11 September 2001 attacks.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said the series would tell "a compelling story of remembrance and renewal".
He said Spielberg's involvement as executive producer would ensure "the story will be brought to life for people around the world for generations to come".
The Science Channel series will use 3D, time-lapse cameras, computer modelling techniques and other methods to chart the construction of One World Trade Center.
Formerly known as the Freedom Tower, the 1,776 foot (541 meter) skyscraper will be the tallest building in the US.
Work on the building officially began in 2006 and is scheduled to be completed in 2013.
Rebuilding Ground Zero will be produced by the Science Channel, a division of the Discovery network.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/8460887.stm
Published: 2010/01/15 10:39:06 GMT
Hacer clic aquí para leer la noticia en español
From: BBC News
Spielberg to make Ground Zero doc
Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg is to produce a TV documentary series on the rebuilding of New York's World Trade Center, to be shown in 2011.
Rebuilding Ground Zero will chronicle the engineering and building of the skyscraper being built on the site of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
It will also pay tribute to those who died in the 11 September 2001 attacks.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said the series would tell "a compelling story of remembrance and renewal".
He said Spielberg's involvement as executive producer would ensure "the story will be brought to life for people around the world for generations to come".
The Science Channel series will use 3D, time-lapse cameras, computer modelling techniques and other methods to chart the construction of One World Trade Center.
Formerly known as the Freedom Tower, the 1,776 foot (541 meter) skyscraper will be the tallest building in the US.
Work on the building officially began in 2006 and is scheduled to be completed in 2013.
Rebuilding Ground Zero will be produced by the Science Channel, a division of the Discovery network.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/8460887.stm
Published: 2010/01/15 10:39:06 GMT
Hacer clic aquí para leer la noticia en español
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Documentary Film: "Man on Wire"
I recently had the opportunity to see Man on Wire (2008, dir. James Marsh) for a second time, the award-winning documentary film which chronicles the exploits of Philippe Petit, who walked between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
As a child, I was fascinated with stories of daredevil acts, like the guy who rode over Niagara Falls in a barrel and came out alive, or Harry Houdini's exploits to break out of chains underwater. I am not old enough to remember Philippe Petit's stunning, illegal high-wire act, but I was able to visit the Twin Towers just one year before 9-11 (though I never went inside). It truly boggles the mind to contemplate what it meant to walk, essentially on air, not once, not twice, but eight times back and forth in the two hundred or so feet between the towers. And to lie down, and look down, as Petit did!
Perhaps the most extraordinary feat of Man on Wire is the complete omission of any direct reference to 9-11. While the director has stated that he did not include 9-11 on purpose -- "Why burden this beautiful story with the ugliness of that?" -- a 2008 review of the film in the Times Online (U.K.), questioned whether this film about a high-wire daredevil may actually be the "best 9/11 work of art so far" (see "Is Man on Wire the most poignant 9/11 film?"). Again, what is not stated, or what remains silent, is a powerful driving force of this film. We will discuss this movie further here after we view it for class.
As a child, I was fascinated with stories of daredevil acts, like the guy who rode over Niagara Falls in a barrel and came out alive, or Harry Houdini's exploits to break out of chains underwater. I am not old enough to remember Philippe Petit's stunning, illegal high-wire act, but I was able to visit the Twin Towers just one year before 9-11 (though I never went inside). It truly boggles the mind to contemplate what it meant to walk, essentially on air, not once, not twice, but eight times back and forth in the two hundred or so feet between the towers. And to lie down, and look down, as Petit did!
Perhaps the most extraordinary feat of Man on Wire is the complete omission of any direct reference to 9-11. While the director has stated that he did not include 9-11 on purpose -- "Why burden this beautiful story with the ugliness of that?" -- a 2008 review of the film in the Times Online (U.K.), questioned whether this film about a high-wire daredevil may actually be the "best 9/11 work of art so far" (see "Is Man on Wire the most poignant 9/11 film?"). Again, what is not stated, or what remains silent, is a powerful driving force of this film. We will discuss this movie further here after we view it for class.
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