Tower Poppies

Here's an article by The Guardian's Jonathan Jones about the "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" - the 888,246 ceramic poppies in the moat of the Tower of London:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/oct/28/tower-of-london-poppies-ukip-remembrance-day?CMP=EMCARTEML6852

In a nutshell, Jones says he dislikes it because:

•  It glorifies war - he suggests a moat full of barbed wire and bones would be more apt.
• It pays homage to all of the British people that died without recognising the equivalent loss of life in other countries, notably Germany, France and Russia.  Jones calls it "a Ukip style memorial"

Jones says it's "humbling" to see the number of people viewing the poppies - an estimated 4 million by Remembrance Day on Nov 11, when the installation will start to be taken down.

He appears to think they would get more out of visiting the exhibition of Anselm Kiefer's work at the Royal Academy, which he clearly loves; he calls Keifer "the most liberating painter since Jackson Pollock."

Personally,  I think the poppy installation looks great.   I haven't seen it in real life but my wife and I have bought a poppy.   If I only had a brief time in London before Nov 11, I'd go and see the poppies, not Kiefer's exhibition.

I see Jones' points but this is all about paying respect, never forgetting the sacrifice made by all the British people that died in World War I.  And to me, the swathes of poppies provide a moving way of visualising the huge numbers of people that died.  I think visitors are able to grasp that this is just the British side and equivalent tragedies happened in other countries.

Jones' "humbling" comment speaks volumes.  I think art should arouse emotions and the poppy installation clearly does that among millions of people.  What makes their views less important than those of the art world elite?

UPDATE 1:  A follow-up article by Jonathan Jones, justifying his remarks in quite a justifiable way:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/31/world-war-one-poppies-memorial-cameron

UPDATE 2:  On Sunday 16th May I visited the Tower,  the "Women, Fashion, Power" exhibition at the Design Museum, the "Who are you" objects made by Grayson Perry in the National Portrait Gallery and Anselm Kiefer's exhibition at the Royal Academy.

I'll  write a separate post about Kiefer.

On the poppies, a lot of them had been removed, following Remembrance Day on November 11. All the same, the viewing areas were crowded with people.  It just goes to show how public art can have an enormous impact.

Having said that, I agree with Glen Carter, our glass lecturer, that the poppies streaming out of one of the Tower windows and forming a wave elsewhere - see photo above - look naff.  Perhaps more importantly I don't understand what they signify.