NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

Sound And Silence: ‘Remembering Sept. 11’ At The Temple Of Dendur. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Upper East Side, New York City.

I attended a very special event yesterday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Temple of Dendur. The Temple of Dendur is a temple that was built by the Roman governor of Egypt, Petronius, around 15 BC and dedicated to Isis, Osiris, as well as two deified sons of a local Nubian chieftain, Pediese (“he whom Isis has given”) and Pihor (“he who belongs to Horus”). The temple was commissioned by Emperor Augustus of Rome and has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1978. Source. It’s a peaceful spot and a room that is partially enclosed by glass which looks out onto Central Park. It’s been one of my favorite rooms in the museum since I was very young.

The event was called Sound And Silence: ‘Remembering Sept. 11’ At The Temple Of Dendur and it featured the world premiere live performance of a piece called The Disintegration Loops by William Basinski who is an avant-garde composer of ambient music via tape music and process music as well as a sound artist, and video artist. William Basinski’s own contextual explanation of the piece is a beautiful piece of writing and well worth checking out. One quote that resonated deeply with me was this one:

“Life and death were being recorded here as a whole — death as simply a part of life, a cosmic change, a transformation. When the disintegration was complete, the body was simply a little strip of clear plastic with a few clinging chords.”

You can read the rest of his writing about The Disintegration Loops here: William Basinski on The Disintegration Loops

The entire event proved to be a cleansing and thought provoking experience. Basinski’s piece was particularly moving and has embedded itself in my mind. Over the course of time, the endless loop distorted gradually eventually disintegrating into nearly nothing. At the end of The Disintegration Loops, the entire audience sat in emotionally stunned silence for nearly 5 minutes. It was a striking to hear it live in such an environment as thoughts flowed within the music and outward toward the sky that could be seen from the giant glass walls. In many ways it seemed to provide an interesting closure to a decade defined by a moment that changed many lives here in New York City forever.

The photo in this post is not my photo, it was taken by NPR. However, it is of me (I am the one with red hair!) and a friend of mine I met for the first time yesterday, Jess Barnett and her friend. I have known Jess for years online and it wasn’t until yesterday that we finally met in person. The photo is part of a greater slideshow of the event written about by Anastasis Tsiolcas. You can view the slideshow here: Sound And Silence: ‘Remembering Sept. 11’ At The Temple Of Dendur

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In memoriam. Tie a ribbon of remembrance - 10th anniversary of September 11 public art exhibit. St. Paul’s Chapel. Financial District, New York City.

I found myself in the vicinity of Ground Zero late last night. I hadn’t planned on going there and I didn’t intend to come back today to the same spot again. I certainly hadn’t intended to even post about 9-11. However, I was bombarded with many emotions I had repressed over these past 10 years that came flowing out like an overflowing dam when I sat across from where the World Trade Center had once stood.

I came across one of the most beautiful public memorial exhibits for 9-11 while in the area. Called Tie a Ribbon of Remembrance, it is a temporary public art exhibit curated by Trinity Wall Street where the public was encouraged to write out their personal sentiments about 9-11 on white ribbons which were then tied to the fence at St. Paul’s Chapel, a chapel that has been standing in the same spot since 1766. St. Paul’s Chapel is Manhattan’s oldest public building in continuous use and also a place where George Washington once worshiped. It sits directly across from ‘Ground Zero’.

I walked along the thousands of white ribbons trying to hold each written thought in my hand and my thoughts went back the thoughts that ran through my head a few months after 9-11 every morning when I arrived at work 3 blocks away from Ground Zero. It was a transitional time in my own life, in New York City and in the whole world. I would get out of the train, look around slowly, swallow the inevitable lump in my throat and think that those of us who were lucky enough to still be here should celebrate the life we have and embrace every single moment with clarity, love and hope.

I stand by this sentiment 10 years later. We may never fully achieve the closure we seek in the wake of senseless atrocity but we can embrace the life we are lucky enough to experience every day and seek to find hope, peace and love through even the most trying moments.

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I have posted a series of 9 photos taken last night and today on my Google Plus profile here of you are interested (including the photo in this post):

In Memoriam - On the 10th Anniversary of 9-11

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