Requiem Response - PK

The last sentence really stuck out to me: “The museum provides a much more American experience, really, than the outdoor memorial, since it is grounded in the belief that almost anything, including the most horrendous events imaginable, can be made entertaining.” I feel it is a very heavy sentiment about what America is like. There is such a desire to make every event of our lives commercialized and entertaining, it’s almost scary. Americans cannot live simple lives, every thought has to be heard, otherwise your life loses purpose.

What I found interesting is that the artists that came up with the memorial were not famous, just a couple with an idea. I also like that they did a contest for it, including the families in some part of the decision-making; I think that helped with getting closure for the families, having some say in what will be the memorial of their loved ones.

“The field of empty chairs” is truly a stunning memorial when viewed at night. The bottom of the chairs light up and create a beautiful and a little eerie presence. Like Goldberger said, they do look like a field of votive candles lit up. The whole field looks stunning when complete, yet the individual parts confuse me a bit. I don’t understand why use bronze for the backs, it seems like such a contradiction, yet it makes them very weather proof, which is very practical as this is an outdoor memorial. Also, it’s sort of creepy that they are arranged in rows, it does feel like a cemetery, especially when lit up at night.

Overall, I think that it is a stunning memorial and it’s wonderful that the families were able to participate in choosing the architect, even though it was hard to please everyone, I think the city did a great job in memorializing the victims.