Vocabulary Flashcards: Vietnam Memorial & Mapplethorpe Controversy

Key vocabulary terms and definitions from the lecture on the Vietnam Memorial, Maya Lin, and Mapplethorpe, focusing on context, controversy, and how art is received and funded.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Vietnam Memorial)

DC memorial designed by Maya Lin (1982) with long black granite walls inscribed with over 58,000 names of those who died in the Vietnam War; nonrepresentational; names ordered by date of death; surface is reflective.

Maya Lin

Designer/architect of the Vietnam Memorial; Yale architecture student; chose a nonrepresentational, edge-like design; faced backlash for being a young, Asian American woman.

Context

The historical and social conditions surrounding an artwork’s creation that influence its meaning and reception.

Representational art

Art that depicts recognizable subjects in a realistic or conventional way.

Abstract art

Art that uses shapes, colors, and forms not intended to represent real objects.

Nonobjective art

Artwork without recognizable subject matter; emphasis on form rather than depiction.

Controversy

Public disagreement over art due to politics, morality, or aesthetics, sometimes leading to censorship or funding withdrawal.

58,000 names

The number of service members listed on the Vietnam Memorial wall; arranged by date of death, not alphabetically.

Reflection

Polished granite surface creates a mirror, inviting viewers to see themselves with the names and consider the meaning.

Edge to the earth

Lin described the wall as an edge rather than a wall, emphasizing openness and a contemplative space.

Traveling Wall

Mobile replica of the Vietnam Memorial shown in parks and events; allows rubbings and personal tributes; operated by veterans’ groups.

1993 addition: 10,000 women

Later addition to honor women veterans who served in the Vietnam era.

X portfolio

Mapplethorpe’s portfolio of explicit photographs; central to debates about obscenity; judged with Y portfolio to determine artistic merit.

Y portfolio

Mapplethorpe’s second portfolio; paired with X portfolio in legal considerations of obscenity and artistic merit.

AHIDA

A Mapplethorpe photograph from the X/Y portfolios; its inclusion helped the case that the portfolios have artistic merit when viewed together.

Obscenity

Material deemed legally obscene; contested in Mapplethorpe cases; depends on whether works have artistic merit.

Artistic merit

Legal standard used to determine whether controversial material has value as art; used to uphold Mapplethorpe’s work when portfolios are viewed together.

Public funding for art

Government or community financial support for art; can influence what is displayed and provoke controversy or withdrawal if donors object.