The Ghost of the Fortress has become a permanent fixture at the Mark Rothko Art Center and Gallery. Per rq: a sort of monument to warhorses (who quickly became obsolete with the advent of more modern technologies), and thus is wrapped in gauze as a symbol of the uneasy life and death these horses (and, by extension, soldiers who served with them) experienced. As the sculpture concept declares (and I translate loosely from the article): “Usually what remains after war is not medals or grand victories, but crippled and ruined lives.” And for this reason they shied away from a heroic depiction of the warhorse (no bared teeth, flailing hooves, free manes flying in the wind). The authors of the piece drew inspiration from photographs of the wounded from WWI, and as it’s probably the last war that saw active-duty warhorses on the premises, they produced this restless ghost.
Via Delfi Kultura.
I love it. I love the idea behind it too.
The history of war horses is actually a sad thing to me… I guess, if human beings want to kill each other, I think that’s wrong but if they both agree well OK. But why drag horses (and pigeons, and dogs etc.) into it? I know in the US, cavalry horses were carefully trained to run **towards** gunfire. That sure would have made me feel like a traitor to the animal’s trust.
War horses are a very long tradition in the world, goes a long, long way back. Like you, I’d much prefer to leave animals out of our wars.
It’s absolutely massive, too. Hard to tell in these photos, clearer in this one.
We’ll be heading out that way at some point this summer (hopefully around dusk), I promise to take a photo!
It would be interesting to see the area of its final resting place, as well as some different angles. I imagine it is rather overwhelming in person!