This is not a memorial

Author

Kaitlin Burger, James Madison UniversityFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Spring 2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

Department

School of Art, Design and Art History

Advisor(s)

Ronn Daniel

Evelyn Tickle

Abstract

After the Vietnam / American War, both lives

and land were left devastated and still remain

scarred, acting as a tangible memory of the

violence that occurred on Vietnamese soil.

Craters the size of lakes cover the countryside.

People live daily with the injuries and birth

defects resulting from malicious warfare. Though

the fighting is over, the suffering is not. Also

left behind were thousands of pounds of unexploded

ordinance embedded into the landscape, waiting to

resurface. In many unfortunate cases, the

curiosity of children has lead them to these

brightly-colored objects and, thus, their death.

My architectural installation will exist in

Multiple sites yet act as a whole. In Vietnam

[site_02], six strategically chosen craters will

house research stations. Seismic and other

quantitative data will continuously be collected,

transmitted, + influencing site_01: Ypsilanti,

Michigan [“Ypsi”]. This is the location in which

many of the tools of war used in Vietnam were

manufactured. The connection between here

[site_01] there [site_02] will be

reestablished and exploited through my architecture.

This link will serve as a way for us to rectify the

actions we have taken on the Vietnamese nation

And the casualties we have caused. As more unexploded

Ordnance is detonated in Vietnam, the research stations

will record + transmit this seismic data to Ypsi.

As our past mistakes, in the form of cluster munitions,

Are unearthed, our soil, too, will suffer. The

Machines in Ypsi are data-driven: as more UXO is found,

the soil will be torn + scarred + trenched + disfigured.

As this process unfolds, the trenches turn to scars,

Extending into and beyond the Huron River + Ford Lake.

The water becomes more integrated with the urbanization

Of the city as it expands into the trenches. Narrow

strips of land will emerge between the trenches, creating

A series of new spaces within the city. As the earth

heals, new ecosystems will find homes in the trenches,

Giving way to new life. The rebirth of our destroyed lands

Now acts a permanent linkage between here + there, one

Trenched and one cratered.

Recommended Citation

Burger, Kaitlin, "This is not a memorial" (2018). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 523.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/523