Museum Stuffs

ANN FRANK MEMORIAL

1. Describe what you see

Lots of stonework at varying levels with quotes from all different people. There's quotes from Moses to Gandhi. There are benches made of stone, a waterfall, some plaques a sculpture of Ann Frank, etc.

2. Describe the varying degrees of representation

There are representations in sculpture, in the text on the plaques and through the audio that plays through the hand-crank boxes.

3. What are visual elements/principles that dominate in the memorial?

Scale... it's a very large memorial. Also the amount of stone and the "central" seating/bench area.

4. Is this memorial "site-specific"?

No, this is just in an open space downtown. I don't believe that anything happened here that relates to the evens of the memorial.

5. Who created, designed and funded this memorial?

One of the stones said, "Idaho human rights education center gratitude to Boise City council and mayor Brent Coles." But I am unaware of who actually designed and built the thing.

6. What materials/media were used to create this material?

A crap load of stone. Also metal for the sculpture, natural resources for the landscaping and someone had to record their voice to be played back for each of the audio boxes.

7. How does the text/word elements function?

They function as the part of the memorial that informs you. They give quotes, explanations of what the memorial is about.

8. Reflecting on your answers to the previous questions, what do you think was the intended meaning/function?

To make us stop and think about our rights as human beings. It's about freedom, but not taking advantage of our freedom. There's plaques remembering war victims and quotes about freedom all over the memorial. Although it's called the Ann Frank Memorial, it's not just about Ann Frank, but more about what she represents.

9. In your opinion, how successful is this memorial?

I think it's a great addition to downtown Boise. We need more impactful/cross media pieces like this. The location adds to the overall effect with the water and landscape and stone.