Maya Lin on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/10/24/Maya_Lin_on_Universal_Loss_and_Vietnam_Veterans_Mem...

Artist Maya Lin discusses the meaning behind her once-controversial design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes is a major exhibition of new sculptures, drawings, and installations by renowned artist Maya Lin.

In 1981, Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial dramatically changed the language and form of commemorative sculpture by infusing minimalist design with the emotional charge of memory.

Her subsequent work, whether monument, sculpture, design object, or building is equally characterized by its harmony of message and material. In recent years, Lin has focused on a reconsideration of landscape in a time of ecological tension and change.

This new body of work engages the issue of our fragile connection to the environment in timely and poetic ways - De Young Museum

Born in 1959 in Athens, Ohio, Maya Lin catapulted into the public eye when, as a senior at Yale University, she submitted the winning design in a national competition for a Vietnam Veterans Memorial to be built in Washington, D.C. She was trained as an artist and architect, and her sculptures, parks, monuments, and architectural projects are linked by her ideal of making a place for individuals within the landscape. Lin, a Chinese-American, came from a cultivated and artistic home. Her father was the dean of fine arts at Ohio University; her mother is a professor of literature at Ohio University. She draws inspiration for her sculpture and architecture from culturally diverse sources, including Japanese gardens, Hopewell Indian earthen mounds, and works by American earthworks artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Her most recognizable work, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, allows the names of those lost in combat to speak for themselves. Lin lives in New York and Colorado.

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[proffesionalbird]

Great to here. I watched a film about the struggle Ms. Lin was thrown into because this piece, and it is good to see her recognized and undisputed in the present as a positive figure.

[camreeno360]

It's amazing how she was just 21 when she designed it.

[KaMiiXprezz012]

@irish89055 Lol (bennett?) and your commenting on a public video i can say whatever the hell i want to say. I don't have to be 35 to be able to recognize ignorance..

[irish89055]

@KaMiiXprezz012 your opinion.... and considering your age , makes you bennett, and you ain't in it...

[KaMiiXprezz012]

@irish89055 your ignorance ....

[CalvinYeee]

She is such a boss.

[irish89055]

@irish89055 perhaps you should read my post again... Actually in 4 days I though I would get more than post reply. Most people love the original design, though not a Vet, I despise it and they should have claymored it. Once the names were enscribed it became consecrated ground and yes, the flag and soldiers were added to get this approved... As a side note I was looking for the dedication on youtube from 1982, the documentary done on PBS, very moving.. I'm very proud of the Vietnam vets..

[JessieMega]

@irish89055 the flags were not Maya's original design. It's because she was disagreed at first so those people added that part.

[irish89055]

Sorry folks, but the wall design was a disgrace to those killed. Black,below ground, in the shape of a V. It is now consecrated by the engraved names and a sea of tears. It has the flag with soldiers to offset the awful design too.

[swatch716]

honestly, ross perot really pisses me off. i wanna punch him so bad, don't ever let me see him! wtf is wrong with him anyways.....

[ThePhantom2K9]

True patriot *Salutes*