Chapter 9 The Ephemeral as a Strategy of Intervention : Reframing the Columbus Monument in Madrid

Abstract

In this collection, a diverse range of international contributors examine commemorative monuments from the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The book reveals how those monuments enable new perspectives and understanding of histories as well as a heightened involvement of viewers through not simply their subject matter but also, most crucially, their actual form and design. While some contributors explore new approaches to the art of commemoration that artists and designers have deployed in recent monuments, others examine how artists have undertaken creative engagements with historical statuary and sites, using these interventions to offer critique and commentary. Additionally, the contributions consider the impact of political change on ways in which an inherited commemorative landscape is interpreted and negotiated. Questions considered by the contributions include: How might new monuments be shaped and how might they function differently from those of the past? Is there a place for portraiture in the contemporary commemorative landscape? Should commemorative monuments be envisaged as permanent fixtures or are temporary approaches more viable? How effectively have artists disrupted the meanings of historical monuments and sites through installation, performance, video and other media? How has political change played out at historical sites, affecting how commemorative monuments from prior dispensations are understood in the 2020s? This collection will be of value to researchers in Art History, Visual Studies and Heritage Studies, as well as scholars in all disciplines and fields who are interested in public art, public memory and the politics of commemoration.