New Yorks new 9/11 museum is a masterpiece. It is the first big thing built to mark that day that is fully worthy of it. It also struck me as a departure from a growing style among those who create and tend historic sites. That style involves the banishment of meaning—of the particular, of the real and tangible, even to some degree of the human. The plaques on landmarked buildings often tell us of the architectural school under which the edifice was created, but little of the great man or woman born there. A few weeks ago, during a visit to the occasional residence of a former American president, a museum official noted with pride the lack of furniture—no chair the president sat in, or bureau he used. Such personal artifacts, she said, would only distract visitors from pondering the sublime greatness of the presidents achievements. Absence creates a space in which the past can be fully contemplated. Actually presence is likelier to prompt contemplation. Meaning matters; things that are real and tangible are moving.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 02:42:38 +0000
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