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MONUMENTAL LANDSCAPES |
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INTRODUCTION
What is a "monumental landscape" ?
It all depends. If you were to type in the key words "monumental landscapes" into an internet search engine, you would find many listings for websites that concern paintings and photography of grand natural landscapes such as Grand Canyon.
I take the phrase more literally. The word "monument" comes from the Latin verb monere which means "to remind." Hence, a monument can be any object or area that is intended to preserve the memory of a person, event, or ideas (1). Tombstones in cemeteries are monuments to deceased individuals. Battlefield monuments, typically parks with artifacts and historic markers, commemorate many things in combination -- the strategic movement of troops and machinery on a certain set of days in the past, the individual soldiers who were involved, and the clash of political or social ideals that brought about the larger war.
We tend to associate monuments with two other things, however. First, we think of the "greatness" or "fame" of the whoever or whatever has been commemorated. Second, we think of monuments as being big. The more famous monuments that have been built over the centuries of civilization are often quite immense. Think of Mount Rushmore, the massive mountainside sculpture dedicated to four of America's great presidents. for example. Their impacts on American and world history have become larger than life ... and so too must be their visages (2).
The adjective "monumental" thus can be defined literally, as something relating to a monument. Yet, because the monuments we remember are the famous, massive artistic and architectural wonders of the world, the term has also simply come to mean large or vast. "The Enron scandal was caused in part by a monumental failure of business ethics."
The term "landscape" has multiple meanings for people as well. As essayist and editor J.B. Jackson explained in the introduction to his book of collected readings Discovering the Vernacular Landscape, the word has been used differently over time and across space. The German version -- landschaft -- can sometimes be used to denote a small administrative unit of land. The British use it, like the French term champagne, to refer to a countryside of agricultural fields. Americans tend to equate landscapes with natural scenery. Despite this and other variations and compelling uses of the term by other scholars, Jackson himself simply chose the broad definition commonly used by dictionaries: "A portion of the earth's surface that can be comprehended at a glance" (3).
Given its vagueness and diverse usage, the term landscape often needs a modifier such as "cultural," "natural," or "vernacular" to specify the organizing principle. The earth's surface is complex, a landscape is more selective.
For this photographic essay, this selective view is framed by the concept of commemoration. "Monumental landscapes" are areas on the land that have been set aside and modified to commemorate important people, events, and/or ideas. The modifications come in many forms, but buildings, statues, and sculptures are the most common. Moreover, the objects tend to be relatively large in order to visually emphasize the greatness of their respective subjects.
This website presents a discussion of three "monumental landscapes" found in the United States. The Parthenon of Nashville, Tennessee; the Cross at Groom, Texas; and the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri are the featured sites. In addition to some basic information about their creation and dimensions, a number of questions are addressed: How do these landscapes tie into a community's identity? Is there a strategy to their geographical placement? How might a monumental landscape fail in its mission to commemorate its subject?
To begin your tour, just click on "The Parthenon" link shown below. |
The Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument, West Potomac Park, Washington, DC August 1990 |
