12 September 2008

A video meditation on September 11, 2001 in newsprint

Hint: watch it on fullscreen to see all the details



I made this collage on two 24x36 sheets of thick black construstion paper. I glued the newsprint to it and covered the whole thing with clear contact paper so the paper would be preserved, and it has been. Today was the 7th anniversary, and the first one when I did not bring the collage to whatever place I work at and put it up on the wall. Instead today I photographed it for the first time and put it to a song.

On September 18, 2001, David Letterman came back on the air after a national week of mourning. Everyone was wondering when it would be ok to laugh again, and Dave didn't try to be funny at all. He gave a monologue from his desk, his take on events, and I remember one sentence clearly. He was talking about the hijackers' religious motives, and he said, "Does that make any sense? Does that make any goddamn sense?"

He only had 2 guests on that night, and it was pretty somber. Tom Brokaw sat with Dave for 40 minutes and they went over everything, then Tori Amos came out and soothed with a song. The song is "Time," written by Tom Waits. He performs it on his masterpiece Rain Dogs, while Tori's version is on her collection of covers, Strange Little Girls. I knew she was coming out with a cover album, but I had no idea what songs. Straightaway the piano was strangely familiar, because I know and love Waits' original. When I realized what song she was actually singing, my heart broke. It was the 9/11 moment for me. That's when it all hit me, a week later. That's why I used the song.

I'm sorry if you didn't want to see this. I understand. Sometimes it feels like picking open an old cut, but I think it's true that we need to remember it. This is not about patriotism, this is about humanity.

Be excellent to each other.

2 comments:

a bonsai said...

thank you for sharing. i still wish that on the anniversary, business didn't go on as usual. i would appreciate a national day of reflection.

onswah said...

I feel so often that this anniversary is marked by selfish people selfishly proclaiming it as their own. I respectfully disagree with a.bonsai and wish that business would go on as normal for those bereft of the pure and raw emotions of such a horrific event. I am saddened that I don't work with you and even more so that if I did you wouldn't share this time around. Such a thoughtful and touching snapshot with an even more meaningful song, thank you for atleast sharing as you did.