How we all felt that day, remember?
Like the world was coming down around us.
There was fear, terror really, and so much sorrow.
How could humans do such terrible killing of humans?
There was confusion and a sense of being abandoned
by God, wasn’t there? Like our God can’t protect us.
And yet, in prayer we all know that Our Father
couldn’t protect His Son from us.
I pictured the Lord, defenseless but accompanying
all the victims. I didn’t know how He does this.
But I just wanted to express my belief in His
solidarity with all of us who are not true to the Father.
Such a loving and compassionate God! He must
be perplexed or grieved, angry or tortured.
We have no idea, do we? But I wanted to show
what I feel in prayer: we are not alone.
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As I've been encouraging students and colleagues alike to take the time to appreciate your art, I've told them what I got out of "9/11, Christ on the Second Flight" outside of Merion Hall 161. A number of people have told me that I should share my thoughts with you, so here's what I've said...
I first noticed the painting before the name cards went up and I knew what it was called. I realized that it is a painting of Jesus and Jesus is on a plane. Then I looked past Jesus and said to myself, "Wait! That's New York City." Then I looked to the second panel and saw the Twin Towers and only one was on fire. Then I said to myself, "Jesus is on the plane! JESUS IS ON THE PLANE HEADING TO THE SOUTH TOWER!!" Then I thought, "Of course Jesus is on the plane because we are Him and He is us." But separate from that, I thought, "JESUS is on the plane and he looks both terrified and resigned because he knows what is about to happen and there is nothing he can do about it because we all have free will. And he is caught up in the free will of the hijackers just like everyone else on the plane and in the building.
So, of course, I don't know if that's what you were trying to convey, but that's what I got out of it. As I said before, I'm deeply grateful to you for sharing your work. I'm also grateful to my mother for taking me to the Art Museum on Sundays when I was growing up (when admission was free before noon) and creating a household that emphasized the importance of appreciating art.
I am grateful to you for your thoughtful critique of the painting 9/11: Christ on the Second Flight.
Your analysis is very helpful to me to understand my own work. When I was doing it, it grew like any
creative artwork in a process which reveals itself as it is developed. I had an idea, thought about the
proper shape and size, the decision to divide the image having two purposes, one to make it more
manageable for transport----the other more important purpose is the subtle division of the world
within the airplane itself. The division actually makes the work subtly sculptural, the two halves have
a meaning. The placing of the Christ was difficult and I did some meticulous calculation to get Him
right but I also wanted it to seem immediate. The figures in the other seats came slowly. The coloring
of the seats, the lights overhead, the odd perspectives, though all calculated, were a slowly evolving
thing. This is how what Dewey says about the development of an artwork helps me understand my
own process. The thing is just making marks on the canvas creates an "aesthetic problem" which I
must solve. Each solution leads to new problems until the process is complete. Having New York City
outside the portholes is easy enough for a native New Yorker, but what to leave out and how to make the
connection without disturbing the viewer with the visual lacunae established by missing buildings or
bridges or other things, that was a problem. The simplicity outside was necessary to convey the beautiful
morning with the terrifying clouds --another problem. The face of Jesus? --though another problem, also pure gift. I had no idea and yet I had to put a
face on Him. As I said the final really difficult problem was making the blue and orange seats make
some visual sense without having them become an overt illustration.... So the final product seemed finished
when the aesthetic problems were solved. Then it took me quite a long time to actually see the painting
myself. I see some understanding of the mystery in Christ joining us in this tragic experience that has
been presented in my trying to deal with the problems created by each successive aesthetic solution.
Your critique helps me to see the mystery better. Thanks again.
There was another interesting thing about the history of the painting. I wanted to share it at church
for a homily about the tragedy but found out just before the liturgy that the flight attendant on that
particular craft was the daughter of one of our librarians. I had a difficult time showing Tim the painting
and asking his permission to use it. He was so gracious in allowing it to, perhaps, help others who
were having a tough time with the tragic expression of unintelligible calculating revenge or simple
hatred of an other "alien" ideology.
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