Controversial Art

I chose to reflect on the controversy that Maya Ying Lins work caused with her design of the Vietnam Memorial. Unfortunately her design came at a time when there was still a fresh bit of anger and frustration from the war. Add to that, that the artist herself was of asian decent and you had a memorial that was going to cause lots of controversy regardless of the design.
Maya Ying Lins design for the Vietnam Memorial was just one of 1441 entries that came from all races and all ages. They came from Vietnam veterans and people who protested what they believed was an unjust war. What was so special about the process was that everyone accentually had a say so in the design. But when the design was chosen it sparked massive protests and lots of anger because it was such an unconventional memorial. Groups were upset that it was sunken beneath the earth. Others were upset that an asian girl designed it, or that they had to look up the names of the deceased in books to find out where they were carved because it wasnt in order by name but of chronological order by death. All of this mass protest and controversy was of a huge benefit to the project because it brought attention to the memorial and gave veterans a voice to be heard after such a tough war. It also brought veterans together and allowed some to have a sense of pride for the first time after coming home from a war that they couldnt or werent allowed to win.
I have been to the Vietnam Memorial and felt a special presence when i was there that ive only felt one other time, which happened to be at Pearl Harbor. I thought that the design reflected the war almost perfectly and was probably the greatest art project that i have ever seen. I think that the reflection and feeling that Maya was trying to portray in her memorial was dead on to those that fought, those that didnt and to those that knew of someone who died in the war. It was and is a very powerful experience.
I think that a world of conformed art would be an absolute dull world. Art to me is all about vision and design. We are all individuals and see and feel things differently. If we had a set of predetermined standards it would only be seen and appreciated through one pair of eyes, whereas artists who design things in their way open up the creative eyes of all of us and allow us to see things through them. So to me it would be impossible to have a set standard in art. We will always have controversy in all aspects of art and need to have them. Without them we would be living in a world without freedom, of speech and of expression.
From this weeks content i learned that i am a strong supporter of the freedom of expression. I think that minus illegal expression like child pornagraphy all art should be allowed. I was not surprised by anyones responses because we are all individuals and nobody thinks the same. If we did then we would be in a world of dullness.