Running head: MAYA LIN’S VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL 1

Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Name:

Institution:

Date:
Running head: MAYA LIN’S VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL 2

Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial

How Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans memorial differ from other monuments

The monument was first unveiled on November 13, 1982 to be a typical war monument

unlike others surrounding it. The other monuments such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

are were made to celebrate life of the former president who served full four terms in office. The

monument unlike the others is a distinctive V – shaped wall which has a well-organized

inscription of names. These names belong to the more than 50000 soldiers who died in Vietnam

during war. Compared to other monuments such as the Korean War Veterans Memorial which

consists of 19 statues of the great soldiers who served in Korea, the Vietnam Veteran Memorial is

just a plane wall which lacks major heroic or patriotic symbols. The monument is polished in

black granite façade which is contrasts to the white marble statues and other structures

surrounding the National Mall.

The monument as a visible scar on the American landscape

The work is outspoken and appears to be angry in such a way that makes it function as a

visual scar on the American landscape. It is dignified and recognized globally for the way in

which it carves out a space for the public to display, show and express their grief and pain for the

patriots who lost their lives in war. These emotions are very necessary to the healing process and

had their place in Lin’s work. The whole process is as natural as the cycles of the earth.

Other memorials designed by Lin

What Is Missing – this is another artwork by Lin to memorialize life on earth, species

and places that have or are likely to go extinct. The virtual art gives a recall of chronicles of loss

in the natural world.

Running head: MAYA LIN’S VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL 3

Reference

Rosinsky, N. M. (2007). Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. (1984). Vietnam Veterans Memorial, directory of names.

Washington, D.C: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.