modern war memorials —
Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red by Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, London, 2014 Since the first poppies were unveiled in the Tower of London moat on August 5, no less than four million people have visited the WWI memorial installation. Designed by ceramics artist Paul Cummins and set designer Tom Piper, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red's 888,246 flowers -- one for every British serviceperson who lost their life during WWI -- has become an international sensation.
With its sheer size, delicate beauty and poignant message, the installation is a departure from some of the more statuesque monuments the British public is familiar with. Indeed, artists from across disciplines are today using a contemporary vocabulary to express collective grief while conveying hope for the possibility of peace. Here we explore just a small snapshot of some of them. By Allyssia Alleyne, for CNN
modern war memorials —
Commemorative Crosses for St. Paul's Cathedral by Gerry Judah, London, 2014St. Paul's Cathedral in London commissioned two commemorative crosses from British designer Gerry Judah that are designed to recall sites destroyed in both WWI and contemporary conflicts. In doing so, Judah used the past in a new way to give context to the present.
"A lot of our perceptions of the First World War have been influenced and inspired by the artists of the period," says Jenny Waldman, director of 14-18 NOW, a UK program commissioning art to commemorate the war centenary. "It seemed to us that 100 years later, it's a pertinent time to ask this generation to look at the First World War afresh."
modern war memorials —
Spectra by Ryoji Ikeda, London, 2014 14-18 NOW's first large-scale initiative, Lights Out, called on individuals to turn out their lights for an hour on August 4, the date Britain declared war on Germany, in reference to then-British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey's statement that "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time."
During that time, they staged five large-scale light art installations across the UK, including Spectra by Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda, in which a column of light was projected into the night sky.
modern war memorials —
Dazzle Ship by Carlos Cruz-Diez, Liverpool, 2014 Waldman encourages artists to explore the stories that the public isn't as familiar with. Dazzle Ships, a commission by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez and German sculptor Tobias Rehberger, for example, pays homage to the artists whose bright, geometric "dazzle" camouflage on WWI ships confounded opponents.
beautiful modern war memorials —
The Fallen by Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss, Normandy, 2013If the overwhelmingly positive response to 14-18 NOW programming is any indication (16.7 million turned off their lights as part of Lights Out), there is a tangible desire for memorials that appeal to the public in a new, engaging way.
"There is extraordinary thirst for doing something participative," Waldman says. "We've been impressed and rather astonished by the public appetite for these works of art."
British artists Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss experienced this firsthand last year when their call for volunteers to create The Fallen, an installation of 9000 silhouettes on the beaches of Normandy to commemorate all lives lost on D-Day, attracted hundreds instead of the dozens they'd been anticipating.
beautiful modern war memorials —
Stonehenge Projection by English Heritage, 2014 Earlier this month, organizers from English Heritage also tried to engage the public in a novel way by projecting archival footage of Commonwealth soldiers training onto Stonehenge, which was at the center of one of the country's largest military training grounds, during a ceremony.
modern war memorials —
Peace Wall by Clara Halter and Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Paris, 2000Whereas monuments once tended to celebrate tremendous victories, since WWI the emphasis has been to commemorate loss or to call for peace. (The Peace Wall in Paris, created by artist Clara Halter and architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, attempts the latter by repeating the word "peace" in 32 languages).
After the incredible loss of WWI, imposing structures -- classically inspired arches and obelisks -- provided a place to focus one's grief, especially when bodies weren't sent home.
"They had to be in stone, marble or bronze because people wanted something of permanence," explains Paul Gough, a professor of art history at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. "They wanted something that was heroic and larger than life that could somehow symbolize that the dead had died for something other than just a common cause."
modern war memorials —
International Memorial at Notre Dame de Lorette by Phiippe Prost, Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, 2014 Since then, loss has become a more personal experience due to what Gough calls "the democratization of memory." Technology and official censuses have made it easier to track down one's relatives, including the dead, which makes the desire to commemorate more personal.
Architect Phiippe Prost's international memorial at Notre Dame de Lorette in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, which was inaugurated today, attempts to do just that. The elliptical ring's bronze plates are engraved with the names of the 579,606 servicepersons from both sides who died in Northern France during WWI.
modern war memorials —
The Lost Men France by Paul Emmanuel, The Somme, 2014At the Somme, The Lost Men France takes a different approach. The translucent flags, designed by South African artist Paul Emmanuel, are sensitive depictions of a body with the names of soldiers who lost their lives pressed into the skin.
beautiful modern war memorials —
Above and Beyond by Rick Steinbock, Ned Broderick, Joe Fornelli and Mike Helbing, National Veterans Museum, 2001 Above and Beyond, unveiled at the National Veterans Museum in Chicago in 2001, was made up of individual dog tags for each American soldier killed during the Vietnam War. There were enough tags to fill 400 square-foot. According to Grough, this repetition -- whether it's with poppies or white crosses -- adds impact.
"That sheer scale gives it an almost industrial strength," says Gough.
beautiful modern war memorials —
Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Maya Lin, Washington D.C., 1982 Gough considers American architect Maya Lin's 1982 Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall -- arguably the first post-modern war monument -- one of the most successful recent memorials. The reflective granite structure is engraved with the names of the over 58,000 Americans to die in the war.
"Maya Lin's piece is very sophisticated in a straight-forward way," he says. "It was a kind of a gash in the turf which slightly healed, but not completely. It's quite uncomfortable."
beautiful modern war memorials —
Les Braves by Anilore Banon, Ohama Beach, 2004 While Anilore Banon's Les Braves sculpture at Omaha Beach in Normandy is intended to represent the bravery of the Allied soldiers who liberated France from the rule of Nazi Germany, viewers are also encouraged to interpret it in their own way.
modern war memorials —
Vanished Berlin Wall by Eunsook Lee, Berlin, 2007Artists can fuse the familiar with the unfamiliar to create a new impression. Vanished Berlin Wall by South Korean artist Eunsook Lee juxtaposed well-known imagery -- a wall installation where the Berlin Wall once stood -- with unique elements -- the inclusion of the names of 5,000 Korean family members who were separated since the Korean War -- to create a memorial that was both eye-catching and emotionally powerful.
modern war memorials —
Peace Turtles by Rachid Khimoune, Paris, 2011 Artist Rachid Khimoune set up 1000 turtles made from casts of German, Russian and American helmets in front of important French sites, most recently at Trocadero gardens near the Eiffel Tower in 2011. By having the turtle, which Khimoune considers a symbol of wisdom and humanity, wear a war helmet as its shell, Khimoune aims to express the senseless inhumanity of global conflict.