Thoughts on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
fta -“The more traditional aspect of the memorial is the three bronze statues, cast by Fredrick Hart, of soldiers just coming out of the jungle looking shocked. Tom Wolfe wrote an obituary for Hart in the New York Times some years ago, and that’s how I know this stuff – he did Catholic liturgical art (there’s a sculpture of his called “Ex Nihilo” that displays his virtuosity nicely) and was a bit removed from modern artists. The sculptor George Segal had created a method where a cast could be had from live human models. Lin, the designer of the major part of the memorial, asked Hart if the models he used screamed in pain when the cast was removed. Hart had no idea what she was talking about. I always wonder if the statues are shocked at the wall as where modern art has taken us, or, as is more fitting, shocked at the loss the wall demonstrates.”