NEW YORK CITY ART AND ARCHITECTURE: WORLD TRADE CENTER MEMORIAL

I think art is in the water in NYC. There just aren't many bare walls, no matter where you go. Here are a few samples from the subway:

I'm a lover of graffiti/street art, and NYC has plenty of that:

Of course, there are lots of other types of art in the city:

NYC is especially known for its architecture, and the newest addition to its iconic skyline is One World Trade Center, built on the site of one of the two WTC towers that collapse in the terror attack on September 11, 2001. At 1,776 feet tall, it is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the 6th tallest building in the world (as of 2018):

The largest shopping center in Manhattan, Westfield World Trade Center, is next door, and it is pretty dramatic too:

It includes a train station:

More shots of the mall interior:

Just outside: an ice skating rink:

. . . which is an interesting contrast to the fountain just outside the 9/11 Memorial. Here there is an abrupt change of mood, from Christmas shopping and lighthearted ice skating to a memorial of the worst ever attack on America soil. The fountain is a pit that seems to suck the water down into a never-ending hole, the mirror opposite of what most fountains do. Two of these pools, each nearly an acre in size, sit in the footprint of the original twin towers:

The names of every one of the victims are carved into the stone surrounding the fountain, and here and there small memorials mark a name, much like the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.:

Just inside the museum entrance, beams from the wreckage are an introduction to the horror of that day:

A large map gives the locations, times, and details of the attacks:

The museum is located in space that was actually occupied by the World Trade Center and includes parts of the original buildings. The dominant gray palette creates a somber, even nightmarish ambiance:

The gray is punctuated by rust-colored twisted beams:

One of the most moving displays for me was the "Survivors' Stairs":

Originally, these two sets of granite-clad stairs and an escalator were outdoors and connected Vesey Street to the WTC Plaza. They served as an evacuation route for hundreds in a building adjacent to the main towers. They were moved into the museum by crane. Watching visitors walking on them now is almost surreal:

Photos of the victims are in several of the exhibits:

A ladder truck from the NYC Fire Department testifies to the power of the destructive forces:

As noted at the beginning of this post, New York City is all about art. It seems appropriate that a section of the museum is for the artistic response to 9/11.  I was touched by these poignant words found at the entrance to this special exhibition: "Shocked by the events of September 11, 2001, artists--like everyone--struggled to make sense of the unfathomable destruction  and loss of innocent life witnessed that day.  Fifteen years after the terrorist attacks, we return to that moment when the unimaginable became real through works of 13 New York City artists. . . . The works in this exhibition invite us to look anew at what we could not believe, reconnecting us to what was lost and to the intensity of our rage, grief, and disbelief. They remind us that bearing witness to the unimaginable may be one of the most powerful ways to imagine our way beyond it."

The most moving work for me is this one by Eric Fischl entitled Tumbling Woman. It has been fairly controversial, and was even removed for a time from the exhibit. The artist stated the the sculpture is "an expression of deepest sympathy for the vulnerability of the human condition, both specifically towards the victims of September 11 and towards humanity in general."

One of my other favorites was Gesture, a set of 850 paintings selected from a group of almost 3,000 paintings. Made by a single artist, NYC resident Manju Shandler, they depict each of the 9/11 victims:

Of course, there is a hard-to-look-at photo montage, images we have seen over and over but which never cease to shock:

Art--it's everywhere in New York City, and it touches every emotion.