ABSTRACT
Works of memorial art offer us an aesthetic context for grief, reflection and remembrance. We engage not only with the formal features of the memorial but with the memorial’s historical and social contexts. We recognize the aesthetics and symbolism of the memorial, but also the number and vulnerability of those who have died and the nature of the tragic event itself. It is not enough merely to appreciate a memorial’s formal properties. Emotional engagement is necessary to properly experience works of memorial art. The aesthetic features of memorial artworks help guide our emotional responses. This makes memorial artworks, which emblematize specific devastating social and historical events, a proper object of emotion.
