The Colourguru

9/11 Project

As you may be aware, I am in my 'hunting & gathering phase' (see yesterday's post to understand that) for an altered book on 9/11 which I hope to have published in time for the 10th anniversary.  Although people have expressed interest & said that they would send things, I have actually recieved very little to work with. (The EXCEPTION being the AMAZING Janet Kriz who sent a fabulous package).  I am not sure whether there will be new printings/stamps/commemorative things printed for this September 11th, however, I would GREATLY appreciate ANY CONTRIBUTIONS you might like to make to my project, even if it is in the form of annecdotal accounts/evidence.  Please contact me via email if you have anything you can help with.  Click the link in the left hand side bar under catagories where it says 9/11 - altered book project & you will find more information & a list of things that I am looking for.  EMAIL me for address details if you have some things to send. 

YOU are A-MAZING

WOW.....you guys are amazing......what an incredibly encouraging response I have had to my call for 'stuff' for my 9/11 project.  AND I can hardly believe it, but THIS week I had someone sitting across my desk that was actually there, on the day - who gave me first hand accounts of the incredibly blue sky, the amazing comradery of the common person in the street & of the ash that settled like a spell on everything.  At the moment I am in information overload - there is SO much techical & subjective (& even wierd) facts, fiction & science.   I think one of the VERY big challenges I will face is sticking to an artistic response instead of me obsessively needing to 'write' everything (I am SURE there is an author in me somewhere..........I ALWAYS need words to feel that I have explained enough!)

I have sent this privately to some people, however, I thought it was time to post it.  Please, if you have any deep issues about this project, please email me, because I want to be sensitive to people's feelings about this terrible event in modern day history.

I buy box loads of National Geographic magazines for a few cents here in Australia & I find that I ALWAYS come away with great inspiration & plenty of images suitable for mixed media collage on good stock paper. 

It was coming across the image of the twin towers in an old National Geographic magazine several years ago that was the seed that started to grow this project.  I didn’t tear it out at first, but then I came across another one, & I was sorry that I didn’t tear the first one out.  I hunted back through my paper bin (I discard them when I have robbed them of their treasures) & found it & put the two images together.  Over a period of time the two images grew into about 50 (Most of them, you can only see the twin towers in the distant skyline).  I don’t have any close ups or information specifically on the towers to date but I have sort of unconsciously been saving pics & info ever since. 

When I realized that I was starting to accumulate a collection, I wasn't sure what it meant to me, or how I wanted to use it.....I just knew it was sacred…....then about 18 months ago the altered book idea came to me.  I hunted & looked & looked for a suitable book.  They were around but at prices WAY over my budget.  I spoke to an online friend from USA; within a very few weeks she had found something & I had it in my hands. I could hardly believe it.

The title is on New York dated 1929. AMAZINGLY its about NY architecture.  CERTAINLY serendipity meant to be for me!!  It is a hardcover about 10” wide x 12” high & is in litho style with quite porous paper & lots of blank pages.  It has about 250 pages.  This is a scan of the title page.  As the book is SO perfect, it is likely that I will read through it & include some of the original text & litho graphics in the finished ‘altered’ book.  The covers are bound in a mid blue cloth that is quite worn looking, which is also perfect.

At the time of writing this (June 2007) I don’t have an exact idea of what look the finished book will take, that will largely depend on what information & resources are gathered through the process.  BE ASSURED THOUGH.  THIS PROJECT WILL BE CREATED SENSITIVELY & SACREDLY.

Now here’s where you take over……..The following is the introduction I have written which will be at the front of the book.  Following that is a list of items I am trying to source. 

Project Introduction:

It is with some reserve that I, a non-American person take on a project like this.  I know that there are many stories, and pictures, and already more significant art than I could ever hope this to be.    However, it has been growing inside me for some time now & I feel an imperative to give birth to it. 

I was in my car driving to work when I heard the news of the plane hitting the World Trade Centre. I arrived early to find the janitor setting up a TV where it could be seen from all the offices. (this was a rarity, usually reserved for those working on weekends of football & cricket grand finals) All day it repeated the same news and the same horrific photographs.

I saw that man fall a hundred times that day.  I was numb.  Ridiculous as it is to compare anything that I felt - half way around the world, safely at my desk - to what was actually happening. 

Or to compare my bewilderment to the chaos in

New York

especially, but in

America

in general.

I had to fly the next day & 7 times in the two weeks following 11^th September, 2001.  My job required lots of plane trips – I didn’t want to get on.  I remember walking through

Melbourne

Airport

terminal on the morning of 12^th September 2001. The silence & lack of bustle was sacred.  I walked through unruffled, unbumped & unhassled – unheard of at 6am at

Melbourne

Airport

on a Wednesday morning.    

My world changed as a result of the events of September 11^th 2001.  I have struggled to fly ever since.  The world doesn’t feel safe now & we are trying to make our homes the sanctuaries that the

World once was.

I give this piece of art to the world, yes in memory of every person who died on that day, but MOST deliberately to every person left to live in the world that remains after…….the funny thing is you never know you are living in ‘before’ until ‘after’. 

I am looking for:

WRITINGS:

·         Any narratives or writings, annecdotes about 9/11…….by anyone - man woman or child

·         Constitution, declaration of independence, in any graphic form

·         Newspaper cuttings, newsletters, reports, text, etc

IMAGERY:

(Please Note: Originals of images are preferable if possible, but if not, to be able to be used, anything that you send copies of, needs to be a full colour lazar print, even if it is a black & white image or text.  Thanks so much of taking care of this detail.)

·         Any imagery of anything 9/11 related: even if it is only in a holistic sense of being patriotic or being about/from NY.

·         Postage stamps, postmarked envelopes from 9/11,

·         Imagery of the Airports involved

·         Imagery of the Pentagon

·         Imagery of AA Planes

·         Maps, tourist info pre: 9/11 and post 9/11

·         Pictures, maps of Ground Zero

·         Any image that the towers appear in…..new or old from any source

·         I am really keen to get some 'worn' looking PATRIOTIC papers (but it doesn't REALLY have to be old, I don't mind new stuff with a 'Basic Grey'™/worn feel about it.) 

EMBELLISHMENTS:

·         

Americana

threads, ribbons, stickers, rub-ons, words, embellishments (worn old style)……deep red instead of bright tones.

·         Military bits & bobs, buttons, pins, buckles, ephemera, papers, etc

OTHER:

·         Cotton flags (not man made material please) of small stature.

·         100% cotton quilting fabrics with flags, stars & stripes, etc

·         Metal ‘bits’………fireman’s/police buttons, buckles, badges, etc

·         Small wooden pieces

·         Buttons

·         ANYTHING that you feel is relevant & is safe to mail DON’T HESITATE……. send it, I will see what I can do with it.

IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO SEND ME, email me at the link above on the LHS & I will tell you where to send it.