Vietnam Veterans Memorial: The Raft Of The Medusa

Communication thru Art

Although it does not look like there was not too much thought into the design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, there was actually an extreme amount of thought put into it. One end of the memorial points to Washington Monument that represents the first president of the US. The other end of the Memorial points to the Lincoln Memorial which not only represent another president but where other historical events took place. Its shape can be left up to your interpretation; two long rectangular walls come together to form an angle or maybe half of a diamond. The walls are made of black marble that give off a mirror like reflection. “To find one name, chances are you will see the others close by, and you will see yourself reflected through them.” (Lin, 2000) The momorial was built and created to keep the focus on those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for this nation, not to focus on the war, and that is why only names were put on the wall.
The Raft of the Medusa was an oil painting with Gericault’s interpretation of what happened when a French naval ship Medusa was wrecked and survivors were forced onto a raft. The painting shows the dead bodies that were used as food for the surviving group. It also seems like this is the point when they are calling out to another ship to be rescued. The painting is huge so some of the people are life size while others are even bigger than humans. This painting could be very controversial, imagine one of your love one’s passed and was feasted on, chances are you would not like this depiction of events. That makes it completely opposite to the Vietnam