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Show SpecialFeatures Page 10 Monday, Aug. 29, 2011 MLK Memorial: Stuck among the conceptual and the literal BY PHILIP KENNICOTT (c) 2011, The Washington Post The new memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. turns out to be a relatively modest affair. A stoplight on Independence Avenue SW announces the entrance, where a fan-shaped entry court leads to a 30-foot high portal of carved stone. The memorial faces inward, away from the Mall, with planted earthen berms and trees obscuring it from many angles. More than 180 new cherry trees have been added to this four-acre wedge of land between the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the bridge that crosses the northern edge of the Tidal Basin, keeping the space green and assuring that the white necklace of blossoms that delights the world will be unbroken come spring. Except for a wall of green granite covered in quotations by King, and two main statue elements that represent a "Mountain of Despair" and a "Stone of Hope," the memorial is a low, pleasant plaza that integrates quietly into the landscape of West Potomac Park. Even the 30-foot tall statue of King, an early version of which prompted the Commission on Fine Arts to fret over its "confrontational" stance, imposing size and "Socialist Realist style," is turned away from the main entrance. King, who was plenty confrontational in real life, now looks off to the West, toward where FDR sits in his equally controversial wheelchair. But there was no symbolism intended in that, according to executive architect Ed Jackson Jr. Like too many memorials, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is stuck uncomfortably between the conceptual and literal. The concept, originally developed by the San Francisco-based ROMA Design Group, focuses on the Mountain of Despair, two massive, roughly arch-shaped granite bookends, and the "Stone of Hope," which contains a statue of King, carved by the Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin and shipped from Changsha, China. The "stone" is meant to look as if it has been pulled out of the arch of the "mountain," and is turned slightly so that visitors first encounter a Tows puny. ANSWERS Medium 3 8 5 2 1 9 4 8 7 1 6 9 5 4 8 9 6 2 3 1 2 8 5 4 7 3 8 5 3 6 1 2 7 4 9 9 4 2 3 c0 N- 6 2 7 1 L.0 4 6 8 7 9 1 3 5 2 CO 5 3 9 4 2 8 4 1 9 7 8 6 0) 2 7 1 5 5 6 1 JARS SEAM MESH ER I E SELMA EMMA LIVEACTION SPIT LEA SAT HUSTLE SLOWMOT ION YES MAP INLAYS IBSEN BETE AURA FE E L C O T E S KITS SAXE ORAL MI TES ATOMIC SAM APP BASKETCASE NAPK IN AAH IRS quotation by King, "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope," before they encounter King himself. The stone of hope turns out to be derived from a rather violent allegory of political conflict and tribalism. The line is from King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. It was apparently based on an image from the second book of Daniel, in which the prophet interprets one of King Nebuchadnezzar's dreams. Nebuchadnezzar envisioned not a mountain, but a massive idol, or image, with a head of gold, arms of silver and thighs of brass. "As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces," says Daniel, prophesying the downfall of the old order. King's version makes no reference to smiting and politics, and it was certainly not the intention of the designers to suggest anything controversial. Despite occasional citations from his later, more challenging speeches, the memorial is focused on the anodyne, pre-1965 King, the man remembered as a saintly hero of civil rights, not an anti-war goad to the national conscience whose calls for social and economic justice would be considered rank socialism in today's political climate. The hope-from-despair concept is realized literally, with a giant statue of King embedded in the Stone of Hope, which is grooved on both sides to suggest that it has been physically extracted from the Mountain of Despair. But it turns out to be a rather tricky thing to base archi- ALL IT WOULD TAKE is a few hours with a jack hammer to improve the King memorial. It could be vastly improved simply by removing the statue. /Washington Post photo by Nikki Kahn.) tectural design on rhetorical tropes. Especially King's rhetoric. The master orator was remarkably inventive in his metaphors and eclectic in his sources. If you read his writing too closely, the metaphors begin to contradict and undermine each other. In the Dream speech, King spoke not only of a Mountain of Despair and Stone of Hope, but of a desolate valley of segregation, a solid rock of brotherhood, the majestic heights of "soul force," and a lonely island of poverty in a vast ocean of material prosperity. Sometimes valleys are exalted, sometimes they are places where people "wallow in despair." Even the heights, or high ground, isn't always a positive image in King's rhetoric. In one of his early speeches, in Montgomery, Ala., he spoke of being pushed from the "glittering sunlight of life's July" into the "the piercing chill of an alpine November." It was very much a mobile army of metaphors that King deployed. To the listener, they are pure poetry. But they were never meant to be pinned down intended for a roadside attracin the way that creating a $120 tion, not a monument on the million memorial based on one nation's most symbolically trope pins down an image. rich ground. The image also created You could see this coming visual and design challenges for years, and it was clear durthat no one figured out how to ing the approvals process that solve. A mountain should be plenty of people on the overbig, but a memorial near the sight committees were feelMall must be in scale to its sur- ing queasy about the design. roundings - and given that the There were worries about entire plaza rests on more than the size of the King statue, 340 pilings driven through and the rather brusque, marshy muck some 40-50 arms-folded stance in which feet to bedrock, the mountain he is memorialized. Efforts couldn't get much larger even to tweak the design didn't if the relevant authorities had confront the central problem: approved something more The idea of representing King, colossal. Metaphorically, it the stone and the mountain seems as if the Stone of Hope literally. An imaginative landought to be smaller than the scape architect could have mountain from which it is translated the mountain and hewn, but because it contains stone concept into something a statue of King, it must be big more abstract. But once it was enough to be impressive. decided that there had to be The result is a mishmash a monumental, lifelike image that looks a bit like King is of King, the concept and its attached to a giant door that literal execution were both has been pushed out of a rather doomed to failure. meagre hillock. The seams The memorial could be joining the 41 blocks of granite vastly improved simply by that comprise the stone, and removing the statue. Or by the 118 blocks that make up following King's original metthe two sides of the mountain aphor and hewing it down to give both sculptural elements something smaller and more a somewhat flimsy, cobbledabstract. together feel, as if they were J698 Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 Page 14 Classified Utah State Universit Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman. _ _ • Student Jobs For more information, see USU Student Employment, TSC 106 or www.usu. edu/studemp. LIVE YOUR LIFE CHANGE THE WORLD What if you could help millions of children just by living your life? The National Children's Study has selected neighborhoods throughout Cache County to participate in this ground-breaking study, designed to learn about children's health. And you may be able to help. Thousands will participate, millions will benefit. Look for our information packet in your mailbox. You can also call or go online to let us know you are interested in participating. Visit cache.NCSutah.org or call 435-797-KIDS (5437) 9am-9pm Monday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday 10 IF 0 The University of Utah 0.011A/1/ Department of Pediatrics Avi, Intermountain IV Primary Children's Medical Center Para Espanol, Name a 435-797-5437 THE NATIONAI# ,, UtahStateUn ive rsity EMMA ECCLES JONES COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SERVICES CHILDREN'SS HEALTH GROWER ENVIRONMENT On-campus jobs: C208-96 Tutor $7.25/hr C658-11 Part-time Nurse $18/hr C429-96 Mowing $6.55/hr C424-10 Extension Intern 7.25 to 10/hr C827-11 Arts Graphic Designer C456-08 Si Leader Chem 2300 001 9.00/ hr. C005-04 Research Assistant $1500/ month C968-11 Bilingual Youth Corps Member 7.25/hr C934-11 Social Work Or Mft Graduate Student $25.00 per 1.25 hrs C160-06 Substitute Teacher 65.00 - 75.00 CO32-12 Fall Americorps Crew Member $1250/month CO34-12 Web Content Manager $8.00/ hour C743-11 It Helpdesk Technician (network Asst) DOE C048-12 Ucc Fall Crew Member--asl Interpreter $1250/month CO50-12 Ta For Beng 3200 $8/hr CO53-12 Website Content Manager 8.50/ hr C013-12 Research Assistant BOE C264-01 Computer Or Electrical Engineering $8/hr. BOE C073-11 Scientific Drilling Field & Lab Assts 10.00 C448-07 Customer Service- Tooele Distance Ed 8/hr C483-00 Laboratory Assistant DOE C452-09 Warehouseperson Depending on Experience C073-12 Student Development Officer $9.00 + bonuses C269-94 Phonathon Caller 7.75 + excellent bonuses C064-12 Undergraduate Research Assistant $10/hr C397-09 Course Developer 10.00 - 12.00 C889-11 Usu Uintah Basin Fall Internship $13,500 for 16-weeks C083-12 Adobe Flash Developer $12-15, DOE C079-12 Gis Computer Operator $9.52 C736-11 Instructional Technologist $15+ C735-11 Graphic/web Designer $14+ C136-10 Student Ambassador Coll Of Engineering $225 per semester C060-10 Tutor Lab Instructor $9.50 C069-12 Computer Technician $12/hr C084-12 Teacher's Assistant 8 C087-12 Research Assistant 8.00 C090-12 Building Representative C041-11 Web Developer 8.75 C089-12 Cee 2870 Teaching Assistant 10 C531-09 Site Mentor 20.00 C103-92 Shuttle Bus Driver $7.25/hr C091-12 Art Book Room Student Assistant 7.25 C092-12 Office Support min wage C065-10 Teaching Assistant $10 C093-12 Teacher's Aide 8.75 C094-12 Research Assistant BOE C396-10 News Reporter $8.00 C410-05 Me Assistant BOE „oi„ C042-07 Office Assistant DOE C048-11 Clinical Preceptor DOE C095-12 Model C296-05 American Sign Lanugage Interpreter $14-$26+ C134-09 Laboratory Technician minimum $7.25 Off-Campus Jobs: 5849 Babysitter 7.25 4421 Hair Stylist 4463 Advertising Coordinator $1200/2-3 week project 4478 Business Analysts DOE 4479 Software Application Developer (net) 4480 Business Intelligence Developer 4497 Fruit Stand (bear Lake) 8 4511 Dental Assistant DOE 4519 Online Marketing Assistant 4525 Web Development Intern To Be Discussed 4526 Actionscript Developer, Flash Applicatio To Be Discussed 4528 Webmaster To Be Discussed 3724 Wordpress Developer $10-12 per hour 6854 Lead Generator 4540 Multistate Calcium Study Participants $20.00 (One Off) 4555 Massage Therapist 4571 Insurance Sales Prosessional Ait $3,000 + Comission 4559 Insurance/financial Sales Rep Experience Based 4573 Online Sales $20 6336 Financial Advisor 4458 Web Developer/intern $10/hr 4179 Landscape Laborer 8-12 doe 4601 Nanny/baby Sitter $15 a day 4600 Day Trader -4445 Photographer/sales depends on experience 6531 Truck Driver Part Time And Full Time Call 4605 Line Service Technician 9hr 4623 Lab Chemist DOE 4629 Child Care Assistant / Cleaning 8.00 2136 Marketing Representative Base w/ Bonuses 4640 Insurance Lead Generator 4638 Babysitter $20 4639 Dietary--cook 6459 Assembly 8.25 6593 Cashier D.O.E. 4637 Sales Rep 4633 Caregiver / Housecleaner 9.00 per hour 4631 Pediatric Dental Assistant 6781 Phone Agent $8-$16 per hour 4462 Lawn Technician Helper 8.00/hr 1908 Piano Accompanist $15 per week 4431 Cnc Maintenance 9.50 4643 Cnc Programmer $12.00-18.00 6734 Insurance Agent/manager 4653 Appointment Setter 30% 4652 Waitresses And Waiters Hourly + Tips 4645 Nanny negotiable 4646 Sales Associate TBD 4648 Customer Service / Call Center Associate 11.00 4656 Farm Laborer D.O.E. 4650 Illustrator 8-10 per hour 6683 Thornless Red Raspberry Pickers |
