1. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    An incredible work of art: Blood-swept lands and seas of red.

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Selbbin, Nov 11, 2014.

    This temporary work of art has been slowly filling the moat surrounding the Tower of London with almost 900 000 hand crafted ceramic poppies, each representing the life of a Commonwealth soldier who died in WW1.

    It's beautifully, and powerfully, called: Blood-swept lands and seas of red.

    When looking at the images, keep in mind that each poppy was a Commonwealth life lost. Not to mention the German, French, Russian, Turkish deaths and the millions upon millions who were injured, maimed or shell-shocked.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    From the BBC website:

    General the Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, said an estimated five million people had been to see the poppies.

    The former head of the British Army said: "The great thing about it is that people are engaged with this.

    "I think they have taken ownership of it and the reason why I think they have done that is that specific number, 888,246 - not a random number - that is the number of British and Colonial soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War.

    "Every poppy represents a life lost and a family shattered."

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It's been a long, long time since I've been this impressed / impacted by a work of art.

    Any Brits lucky enough to catch a glimpse in the flesh?
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2014
  2. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Why do you have three royals standing on top of the lives of those soldiers? What's the message supposed to be there?
     
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  3. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    I wanted to know if they are standing in the water? :confused:
    I see no problem with the photo op. At least the Royals' men have served in the military, including Prince Harry in a combat role.


    [By the way, the whole rest of the thing with 'Royals' boggles my mind. I can't see why they are special or get tax dollars or own the country's riches. But I'm not trying to discuss that here, I just didn't want people to draw the wrong conclusions from my comments above.]
     
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  4. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    No, no, it's OK, I get it. You love them and you think they're better than everyone else!:mad:
     
  5. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    The last three pictures are awesome. Kudos to all the people who helped put the whole thing together.
     
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  6. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    :confused:
     
  7. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I haven't seen it in person, partly because I hate London - partly because I'm the other side of England from it. However, the images of the field of poppies is stirring. I say that as someone who doesn't particularly care for 'Britain' as an ideological institution. There is a power in it, even if I don't find it as effecting as the fields of crosses, the endless graveyard for the poor lads butchered in France.
     
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  8. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Please, people, keep this thread about that artwork and the soldiers who lost their lives. Don't turn it into a debate about the royals!
     
  9. obsidian_cicatrix

    obsidian_cicatrix I ink, therefore I am. Contributor

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    The sheer scale of it is very affecting. As is the colour. As for what it stands for, it makes me sad to even contemplate it.
     
  10. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    This is what I felt too. I teared up a bit just looking at the images - if I'd actually been there, I probably would have wept openly. Seeing that display is so much more affecting than just reading a simple number on a page.
     
  11. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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  12. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    No one's doing that.
     
  13. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    I read that. I disagree with the Author's objections though.

    That's what I got. The true vastness of what such a figure actually means.
     
  14. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I can understand that. I got that when I saw one of those old pathe videos from WW2 of the concentration camps. The same sort of 'Holy shit, this is what it really meant' feeling. Imagine being in London and actually seeing it!
     
  15. obsidian_cicatrix

    obsidian_cicatrix I ink, therefore I am. Contributor

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    I went away and thought a bit more about this and I've decided. I find it a bit shallow. It reminds me of when Diana died. There was a huge public outcry, wailing and gnashing of teeth, and wall to wall photo coverage in the tabloids. Yes, the scale is affecting, but it's not telling me anything I don't already know. The provocative use of red is hardly subtle, and in fact makes me feel like I'm being manipulated on a grand scale.

    On a similar theme in much smaller scale:

    PB031652.jpg
    This is the lower section of a mural in East Belfast. It is painted on the gable end of a terraced row in a working class residential area. (Don't let the motion blur fool you...that car was only doing 5 mph on the city equivalent of a country one-way lane.) It was painted by family members of those that died. Kids play ball games at the foot of it. People pass it on their way to and from work. Every so often it gets a touch up to preserve it.

    This affects me more.
     
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  16. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    Why!? Why is it only in place until the 20th!? I fly back on the 19th (on the other side of England) :cry:
     
  17. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I like that. :)
     
  18. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    There's talk of extending it due to the popularity.
     
  19. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Pretty cheap shot, imo. Instead of bashing the royals, how about sticking to the thread topic, a breathtaking work of art in honor of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice?
     
  20. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    I don't mean to sound cynical, and I don't mean to get into any sort of bullshit political argument, but I'd rather we lived in a world where 'armed forces' were not needed. No nations to die for.

    If only.
     
  21. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    On a day that commemorates the lives of all the soldiers who died bloodied, horrific deaths in the trenches of France for four long, bloody years, we should be respectful and remember what had happened.

    Pretty stirring image. Little things like this really helps to bring the history of an event (good or ill) alive. R.I.P. all you brave soldiers of WWI. R.I.P.
     
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  22. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    The cost would be too high. It could only be a world with a population so sparse that people rarely encountered one another. Other than that, it would be wonderful.
     
  23. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    Sadly, I think you are right. Still, a boy can dream.

    There is a story in that though.
     
  24. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    I believe minstrel asked us to stay on topic. Let's not ruin the thread with even more cheap shots.
     
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  25. Selbbin

    Selbbin The Moderating Cat Staff Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Absolutely. The true sadness isn't that those men died in service to their country, it's that they died in a completely pointless war.
     
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