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. 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." 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?
Why do you have three royals standing on top of the lives of those soldiers? What's the message supposed to be there?
I wanted to know if they are standing in the water? 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.]
The last three pictures are awesome. Kudos to all the people who helped put the whole thing together.
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.
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!
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.
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.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/31/ukip-poppies-art-fraud-andy-warhol-week-art This article flamed things up. If I've found the right one.
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.
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!
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: 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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
