‘We Have to Help Them Be Useful’: Artist Krzysztof Wodiczko Explains How Existing Monuments Can Be Made to Speak for the Voiceless

In the past decade, a public reckoning has unfolded over
monuments in the United States, about who gets honored and why, and
whether statues to figures such as Confederate generals should be
removed from display altogether.

The Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko has spent his career addressing
these thorny subjects, often by appropriating the objects
themselves. Civil War monuments, architectural facades, and other
physical landmarks have often been the canvases for his video
projections.

Earlier this year, the artist was commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York to
create a project addressing one of the park’s most prominent
statues: a monument to Union Admiral David Glasgow Farragut.

In an exclusive interview with Art21 conducted earlier
this year, the artist described the practice of creating the
project, titled Monument for the Living. 

“People always gather in front of monuments,” he said, noting
that often it has less to do with historical awareness than it has
to do with the convenience of finding a place to rest.

For his project, Wodiczko projected video clips of refugees
speaking about their experiences directly onto the statue of
Farragut, aligned perfectly so that their arms and faces mirror
those of the monument.

“Communicating with others, it’s very important,” he said. “Once
it is shared, it opens the path to healthier life.”

The final work is lit up at nightfall, so that visitors to the
park are confronted with the voices and gestures of a living
refugee.

“We have to help them be useful for the living,” the artist says
of existing monuments. “Maybe there is a future in which some of
these monuments will never need to be built.”

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part
of Art21’s Extended Play series, below. The video projection
of “Krzysztof Wodiczko: Monument for the Living” is temporarily
suspended. More information is available on the Madison Square
Park website. 

The post ‘We Have to Help Them Be Useful’: Artist Krzysztof
Wodiczko Explains How Existing Monuments Can Be Made to Speak for
the Voiceless appeared first on artnet News.