A STATUE is a 19th-century solution to the problem of immortalising the past (Letters, January 3).
We need a 21st-century solution. It should be electronic, 3D, a single huge screen in George Square which might show (on both sides or on a cylindrical surface) the entire history of Scotland, including images of our great men and their doings and scenes connected to them in full colour.
You could even have the smell and sound of a steam engine, the characteristic beat of the Spitfire, Mosquito or Lancaster, even the smell of Scottish blood at Culloden, as well as the Drambuie invented at the same time (the company might actually offer free samples... then the experience really would be memorable).
You could also have the launching of a great battleship on the Clyde, the view inside a steamie or a single end.
Why would a single block of stone be preferable to this range of experiences? There could even be music, appropriate to the event, the man, the people, the places on view. There could be a dozen such screens in the square all showing a different aspect.
All our statues should be removed and replaced by the better methods of remembering the past which are now available. The young, who pass the blocks of stone with writing too dull to attract attention and figures too high to be seen, would waken up and be inspired by an electronic solution appropriate to this new age.
Has anyone actually seen Nelson on his column? No, he is out of sight among the clouds.
William Scott,
23 Argyle Place,
Rothesay,
Isle of Bute.
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