After World War I, artists, citizens, and even governments pushed back against traditional forms of memorializing, and perhaps aggrandizing, terrible events. They felt that marble and bronze statues elevated on plinths were distateful given the reality of war. They didn't want to mythologized horrible suffering caused by war. Artists felt that the reason for their existence after the world war was to challenge the systems and beliefs that led to the fighting, not celebrate them.

As a result, European artists, especially those in Germany, created an artistic movement called "counter-monuments" which are "memorial spaces" that challenge the premise of a monument. The artists felt that by creating a traditional memorial, people are likely to forget events like the Holocaust, but counter-monuments would help keep the memories alive.

Counter Monuments: How to honor a tragedy?

Wilhelm Lehmbrück's Seated Youth, 1917 depicts an anti-hero

Counter Monument

Aschrott Fountain, Horst Hoheisel

Kassel, Germany

A fountain given as a give to the city of Kassel by a Jewish man was demolished by Nazis on April 9, 1939. About 30 years later researchers asked the townspeople what happened to the fountain and they could not remember the tragic truth. To help the residents of Kassel to better remember this tragic and brutal event, artist Horst Hoheisel created a "negative form" monument. He recreated the original fountain but upsidedown to represent the absence of the majestic fountain.

Counter Monument

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Maya Lim

Washington, DC, USA