I don't typically post news stories, but I expect this won't be picked up by the main-stream media. My last post shows some pictures of Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Debate about the holocaust memorial dragged on for years over who should be included and who should be left out. In the end, a similar block of concrete was put up nearby in the cruisy bushes of Tiergarten, inset with a video of two men kissing. Destroyer publisher Karl Andersson reports that on Sunday, someone vandalized the monument by bashing in the video monitor.
The sign says that the video sequence is experiencing a technical problem, but the broken glass points to other kinds of problems. At the monument's unveiling, openly gay Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, prophetically noted that, "Even today, discrimination is an everyday occurrence."
Image of the Damaged Monument
Because of the similar look and location of the two memorials, it becomes easy to make comparisons. In the five acres of Eisenman's memorial each stelae could be seen as place holder for over 600 lives lost. Dragset and Elmgreen's monolith functions in a similar way for over 10,000 murdered homosexuals.
More importantly, each monument represents the two populations in the present era of their construction. The political will delivers (and western society expects) constant police surveillance for the memorial of murdered Jews, but a memorial to murdered homosexuals is left as an unguarded target for hate. And as Karl Andersson noted, "The vandalizing of the gay memorial is proof of its brilliant execution - two men kissing may be seen as lame by some, but is apparently enough to provoke violence."
More importantly, each monument represents the two populations in the present era of their construction. The political will delivers (and western society expects) constant police surveillance for the memorial of murdered Jews, but a memorial to murdered homosexuals is left as an unguarded target for hate. And as Karl Andersson noted, "The vandalizing of the gay memorial is proof of its brilliant execution - two men kissing may be seen as lame by some, but is apparently enough to provoke violence."
Posts
2 comments:
Not to sound suspect, but is there any evidence/indication that the monitor was smashed for homophobic reasons, and not out of simple, stupid vandalism?
Since it's impossible to prove a negative, it's impossible to say. I suppose that some books (or churches) get burned not for what they represent, but because the burner was interested in creating a little mayhem.
On the other hand, a video of two men kissing is a great proxy if you want to queer bash without leaving behind a human witness.
Post a Comment
Thank you for continuing the conversation by leaving a comment! If you post anonymously with a question, check back here in the comments section, as I'll usually reply in the comments section. Comments on posts older than two weeks are welcome, but are moderated, so they may take a while to appear. Irrelevant linking will be deleted.