FOREWORD
The original composition was to be created with oil paints, my choice medium and based on my previous social statement, also a wood piece, titled Three Worlds. It reflected my views on the devastating tsunami striking Japan on March 11, 2011.
While beginning my composition for the first wood panel with vine charcoal as I usually do, I began to notice the chards and dust particles floating down onto the floor. Some fragments seemed to float down while others fell at a faster rate. This process of fragments of charcoal falling started to hold my interests and I began to imagine that the particles falling were the remains of people, the building and its contents that were reduced to small dust particles falling back to the earth’s ground surface with no identity of its original form. At that moment I made my first change to the composition. Instead of paint as the main medium, it would now be charcoal. Charcoal also reflects the fragileness of the medium. Any poor contact or approach and the work is damaged. Charcoal
Is not as permanent as other mediums. Many times, it is only temporary but can be very powerful in appearance. I then thought of one of my favorite artists, German artist, Käthe Kollwitz. Her art reflected the struggles of many German people during World War 1 and II. Though famous for her wood-block prints, her charcoal drawings are also powerful. They are stark, bold, and full of emotion, The use of charcoal was now my medium with hopes to express the same personal expressions presented by Kollwitz.
Panel One: 0846 hours
I remember the morning. Even down in South Texas the weather was beautiful on the morning of September 11. That morning in New York was like any other morning.
People in New York had their daily agendas: business meetings, family outings, morning exercise, concerts, and plays. Many were visiting the city from the various regions of the world. This was just another day in New York City.
The towers are placed off center with vanishing points leading the viewer’s eye towards their direction. Many may not notice the plane about to strike the first tower. It appears so small and insignificant and yet it will consume all who lived in New York, the United States and the world. This was the day that would affect the world. This was the day that changed the world as we knew it.
08:46 the first plane, Flight 11 struck the first tower.
No one knew what to make of the event because at first it appeared that the tragedy was limited to a small portion of the tower. Little did we know, little did we know.
Color is kept at a minimal. The basic colors are red, white, and blue in all three panels.
Panel Two: 1446 hours
Showing the towers engulfed in flames and smoke with people leaping out of the tower after Flight 11 struck is not needed. We witnessed these events through live coverage. If you viewed the event that day, then nothing can properly reflect this image. Therefore, I chose not to illustrate this viewpoint. Instead, the focus is on how I and my high school students felt as we watched, helpless, wishing we could have done something, anything, to help these people in need.
The people on the left side of the panel are the adults who are witnessing the transformation of the United States. We, as adults, understood that never again would this country, or our lives, be without the threat of terrorism. We are the last generation to experience the safety and security that would no longer be. The elementary children are also witnessing the same horrible event. Due to their age, however, they may not fully comprehend how this event will affect their lives. They watch, unaware of the freedoms and security that they have lost.
9:03:02 Flight 175 crashes at about 590 mph into tower two.
People watched in horror as the events change from surreal into a true nightmare.
The tower’s metal beams begin to scream as they twist and crumble, engulfing every soul trapped within its walls.
The girl wrapped with the American flag is the link between the two generations. ‘The Genesis of a New America’. She represents the high school students that sat in my classroom viewing the events as they unfolded. Some of my students were so moved that they would later enter the military to protect this nation. Many would return severely injured. Others would lose their lives. The young girl wrapped with the American flag is old enough to comprehend the significance of what is developing. She will remember the freedoms we once had. She will experience a loss of freedom in order to provide national and world security. She will never experience the security of the previous generations. This single figure is the link between pre 9 – 11 and post 9 – 11 , ‘the New World’. A world evolving with lost freedoms.
9:37:46: Third plane, Flight 77, crashes into the western side of the Pentagon at 530 mph, 184 lives lost.
10:03:11: Fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, “Lets Roll” Passengers aboard the plane hijack the cockpit on Flight 93 and take over the flight. 40 passengers and 7 crew
10:28:22: The North Tower collapses
Panel Three: 2046 hours
8:46 p.m.
Numerous ambulances stand ready to transport survivors to hospitals but their presence is overshadowed by the surreal silence of the evening.
Their services will not be needed.
They sit with dim lights flashing through the layers of dust particles. Small dust particles, fragments of what was once the Twin Towers and the remains of people killed by this act of terrorism.
The red hue found on the ground floor represents the victims that fell, were blasted out, or made a conscious decision to plunge to their death. The blue hue is very minimal, symbolizing an uncertainty of hope and security. The dominating white hues swirling around the remains of the towers represent the 2,977 men, women and children who perished on this day.
Their spirits encircle and search for understanding as well as loved ones.
Their spirits will forever mark this area as hallowed land which would henceforth be known as “Ground Zero”.
This work is to respectfully honor all who perished including first responders and the defenders of this great nation and to alert those of us still alive – to prepare for a new world.
Four Views of 9 – 11
2013
Never again will we attend events, travel to locations home and abroad without the concern of terroristic acts. This will mark the beginning of a new world. A world which will likely exist with a threat of major terroristic strikes on innocent people throughout the world.
This form of warfare had its beginnings with Adolf Hitler’s ‘Werwolf’ military squad. Hitler introduced the Grand Mufti, Amin Al-Husseini, to Jihad and the tactics developed by Otto Skorzeny and the Werwolf squads. We are now experiencing a reintroduction of the terror tactics once used during World War II.
~Armadillo