Christian Boltanski

A Memorial to Nothing
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jan/13/christain-boltanski-grand-palais-paris)

This is Christian Boltanski's piles of clothes between large posts in front of an extra large mound of clothes. The sound of 15,000 heartbeats fill the room. What a grand statement this is. As with a lot of the art I've researched, I wish I could actually experience this in real life, rather than reading about it and seeing a small picture. I feel like I can't get the full effect. After reading a bit more about Boltanski, I found out he is a Jewish man and often makes work reminding his viewers of the genocide and human sacrifice and suffering - which adds a new layer to the meaning and background of this piece. Boltanski seems to use candles, shadows, black and white blurry photographs, and ragged clothing as a staple in many of his works. It's simple, but it's kind of eerie and dark. We've got another gloomy artist on our hands. Happiness doesn't sell, does it? I guess it is important that to understand joy, we much first understand pain; and to understand the future, sometimes we must look to the past.