ArtWork of the Week
Monday, November 24, 2008
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, this morning I spotted this. It's the memorial to the slaves on Church Square by Gavin Younge and Wilma Cruise. You might not be able to see it because there is an enormous film set European bank sitting on top of them.Sometimes irony hurts.
posted by Robert Sloon at 12:57 PM
9 Comments:
I don't think the city of Cape Town should have permitted this, it seems disrespectful, like the memorial is just an inconvenience to be discarded, along with the rest of history. If they tried to do this to the Vietnam War memorial for example it wouldn't fly.
We may not like the memorial, but should we not respect what it represents? Without respecting the memorial are you not tacitly saying you don't think slavery was such a bad thing (eg. I mean at least people were fed and got to travel after all..) ? I don't know ? Perhaps the City should be responsible for protecting the memorial from this kind of obliteration, even if it is just temporary obliteration.
this could only have been done intentionally.
who da slave now
having said which, it would be quite nice if a couple of local banks had to take not of the design qualtiy in this piece of rampant neo-colonialism, which while it might be scandalous, is at least hip. I don't know if anyone's seen the revamp of the main branch of the Standard Bank...... it is SO bad. Their main design element is a Tay Dall-like spiral in - wait for it - good old orange, white and blue. Classic.
dear anon 1:30PM
if this memorial was of consequence--had gravitas--and was not simply a vacous (so blatant a reference to eisenman,s berlin holocaust memorial bordering on you know what) maybe it might be untouchable like the vietnam memorial.
Anon 9:07
Well hmmm I think that you and anon 1:30 are on the same page, however, to use Wittgensteins method...
1.1 We dis da monument ? = (s)
1.11 We don't dis the slaves ? = (h)
1.12 Slaves deserve respect ? = (t)
1.13 Crap monument = disrespect = (k)
1.2 bank / monument = disrespect (k)
1.21 6) disrespect + disrespect = double disrespect (k)
1.3 Then s+h+t=kkk
or kknk?
hahahah
Someone should commission Petey Eastman to do a print of this scene.
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