Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial


This post continues my series looking at memorials I researched for my MFA thesis. This one is
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. All quotes are from the website, but all photographs are mine:
"It honors all of America's federal, state and local law enforcers. Inscribed on the Memorial's blue-gray marble walls are the names of more than 18,600 officers who have been killed in the line of duty, dating back to the first known death in 1792."

"Designed by Washington, DC architect Davis Buckley, the Memorial sits on three acres of federal park land called Judiciary Square. The site has served for over 200 years as the seat of our nation's judicial branch of government. A glance around the space finds plush carpets of grass, nearly 60,000 plants and 128 trees decorating the Memorial grounds. Each year, around the first of April, some 14,000 daffodils make the Memorial one of Washington's most spectacular attractions."



"Bordering the Memorial's beautifully landscaped park are two tree-lined "pathways of remembrance" where the names of the fallen officers are engraved."

"The names of the fallen officers are displayed in random order on the Memorial Wall. At an annual candlelight vigil held each year during National Police Week (in May) new names of fallen officers are added to the Memorial."



"Each of the pathway entrances is adorned with a powerful statuary grouping of an adult lion protecting its cubs. The bronze statues were sculpted by Raymond Kaskey. They symbolize the protective role of our law officers and convey the strength, courage and valor that are the hallmarks of those who serve in law enforcement."
(I didn't think the lions were "powerful" - in fact I think they're a bit cheesy, and the symbolism is heavy handed.)




"Under each of the lion statues are inspiring quotes that capture the spirit of the Memorial and the heroic men and women it recognizes"

"In valor there is hope."
-Tacitus

"It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived."
- Vivian Eney Cross, Survivor

"The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
- Proverbs 28:1

"Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream."
- President George H.W. Bush




This is a rubbing I took of the above section:

Sunday, November 15, 2009

I Am Because We Are Panels 2

This post continues the look at the sock panels that made up the I Am Because We Are installation. This work was made for the floor of the installation (above), but in the recent Landscapes: A Journey Home in Textiles show at Kudos Gallery it was exhibited running from the wall down onto the floor. The reason I embarked on this part of the project (naming the people whose socks make up each of the sections) is so that when I exhibit the work and people ask, "Are my socks in this one?" I can direct them here to check. The list of names below has some of the names repeated. This was because I used a number of different socks of theirs to make sure that I had variety in the colours of the panels. The names are typed onto ribbon which is woven in with the socks (the white strips you can see in the photos).




Andrew Metcalfe, Sandra Burchill, Ian Howard, Margaret Jackson, Anda Black, Bill Mobbs, Illona Caldow, Noel Love, Richard Brown, Ingrid Davis, Kennie Ward, Kevin Russell, Nancy Hall, Linda Jaivin, Paul Cordeiro, Peter Black, Harry Lukies, Quinn Cretney-Ross, Vivienne Webb, Sue Olive, Pat House, Andrew Gwinnett, Laila Marie Costa, Phillip Black, James Staniforth-Smith, Tony Napoli, Sally Hill, Libby Knott, Greg Cook, Peter Perry, Tim Lever, Myles Wearring, Barbara Mobbs, Charlie Blum, Russell Storer, Tim Smith, Billie Dyer, Roy Milton, Ada Markby, Joy Wellings, Kay Lyon, Peter Wong, Renata Joy Field, Miki Wakatsuki, Vanila Netto, Peter Black, Scott Maclennan, Siobhan Punshon, Donna Page, Jan Blum, Rebecca Reynolds, Allan Giddy, Jenya Osborne, Paraskevi Zafiriou, Alice Engel, Isolde Lennon, Tim Lever, Liddy Roulston, Ingrid Davis, Marianne Little, Rahayu Agustina, Ella Freer, Colleen Drew, Jenna Bateman, Sandra Eterovic, Virginia Baldwin, Margaret King, Jenya Osborne, Liddy Roulston, Peggy Smith, Kevin Greene, Dominick Rosenthal, Kristin Headlam, Viola Hofer, Gail Stiffe, Kathryn Greiner, Penelope Benton, Micheal Smith, Richard Morris, Mollie Osborne, Emmett O'Shea, Penelope Seidler, Clare Hodgins, Barbara Rogers, Basil Bessiris, Pierre Thibaudeau, Millie Phelan, Lyn Dickson, Gavin Palmer, Kean Wong, Fiona Kennedy, Rex Deutscher, Tamsin Hughes, Mike Stiffe, Phillip Black, Ian Fletcher, Suzanna Tan, Neryl Lewis, Ky Fisher, Linda Jaivin, Sally Sorell, Rex Deutscher, Margaret King, Barbara Rogers, François Limondin, Tineke Hazel, Kevin Greene, Colleen Drew, Val Little, Sandra Burchill, Ada Markby, Emmett O'Shea, Richard Morris