History and the Artificial

In “Architecture of the Evicted,” Rosalyn Deutsche points out the artificiality of urban redevelopment programs and the exercise in power that drives them. She claims that despite the good intentions of developers and supporters, projects to restore places to previous conditions “rarely …actually return their sites to an earlier, and certainly not to an ‘original,’ state” (Deutsche 150). Moreover, the project might say more about present problems than past solutions: “they refurbish antique details while extensively reconfiguring space in accordance with the exigencies of our own historical conjuncture” (150). Together these factors motivate an effort to create “a model city from the more remote past, one that is harmonious in its entirety” (151). The problem is that this effort is based on a limited view of the past. Different social groups can view the same scene from history with opposite attitudes. Deutsche notices that when the group in power seeks to restore the past, they are remembering what “they” like about the past and how the project might serve their present needs – “refortifying spatial hierarchy” (158). Like a Disney movie, this perpetuates a biased and flawed view of the past “by obstructing the perception that the forms, uses and meanings assigned to space fulfill the needs of specific societies structured on relations of power” (158).
The careful artist might consider these issues when dealing with history, such as the proposed murals for the new federal courthouse in downtown Tuscaloosa. The murals are meant to “chronicle West Alabama’s past and present” (News 1). The artist, Caleb O’Connor, “requires a great deal of research…to gain insight about the area's layered history. From the Civil War and Trail of Tears, to the Civil Rights Movement, University of Alabama football and modern industry…” (News 2). Such measures are appropriate and helpful, but should not be understood as binding the works to reality. The first mural points out the artificiality of the project, with Paul “Bear” Bryant crossing the street in front of President Witt on a picturesque day in front of Denny Chimes. This is not meant to say that the murals are wrong, but rather that viewer should not automatically trust any painting to be absolutely right.

Rosalyn Deutsche. “Architecture of the Evicted.” Theory in Contemporary Art since 1985. Ed. Zoya Kocur and Simon Leung. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 150-165

Boyd, Ashley. “History Comes to Life.” Tuscaloosa News. 19 March 2010. Web. 6 April 2010. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20100316/NEWS/100319709?p=1&tc=pg#