"We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth" - John F. Kennedy
*in case we do
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In the lobby of 7 World Trade Center: David M. Childs, left, the architect; Larry A. Silverstein, the developer, with his wife, Klara; and Jenny Holzer. Photo: Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
I found an interesting article in the New York Times today, while I googled "artworks destroyed by 911", about contemporary artist Jenny Holzer who has recently installed in the lobby of the new 7 World Trade Center, a moving wall of words.
Already, thousands of moving, ghostly-white words of text have been programmed by Ms. Holzer evoking the history of New York; they will scroll across a glowing, 65-foot-wide, 14-foot-high wall in the lobby of 7 World Trade Center. ... The artwork — a continuing stream of poetry and prose written by dozens of different authors, from Elizabeth Bishop and Allen Ginsberg to Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman — will move along a screen made of acid-etched, diffused, translucent glass illuminated by whitish light.
You can read the entire article here by Glenn Collins. Has Holzer become politically correct? You decide.
I also came across previous articles, written shortly after 911, assessing the loss monetarily and culturally, of hundreds and hundreds of destroyed art work and historical archives. Less we forget, here are a few links.
Overwhelmed by the loss of human life on September 11, few Americans realize that the terrorist attacks also destroyed an important segment of America’s cultural and historical legacy. Panelists examined the destruction of numerous records, artworks and archives in a Sept. 24 discussion at the Library of Congress, “The Impact of September 11 on Cultural Heritage.”
Read the article here by Donna Urschel.
Although the nation suffered incalculable personal and economic losses on September 11, 2001, little has been written about the destruction of America’s cultural and historical legacy -- until now. Heritage Preservation, the nation’s leading non-profit advocate for the proper care of our cultural heritage, has just published Cataclysm and Challenge, a 26-page report offering the first comprehensive study of what was lost -- both in Lower Manhattan and at the Pentagon -- on that day. The report also highlights findings obtained from a survey -- conducted in the months immediately following 9/11-- of 122 museums, libraries, archives and other collecting institutions in Lower Manhattan. It reveals significant lessons that may help protect our nation’s cultural heritage from future disasters.
Read the article here by Heritage Preservation. Or the pdf file here of the full 26 page report.