9/11: Moment of Impact - 9 doors of glass.

Featured in the 2004 volume of The Journal of Stained Glass published by The British Society of Master Glass Painters.

Visitors from London, the UK and further afield attended the successful world premiere at the.gallery@oxo, oxo tower wharf, South Bank, London - September 9th-12th 2004.

"Powerful, evocative pieces. Thanks for sharing them."

"Technically and emotionally impressive pieces, fantastic architectural construction."

"A vast and inspired amount of work and imagination has produced an electrifying (if not to say horrifying) reminder of man's inhumanity that we could not forget - your panels still help people to remember."

The middle 3 panels at the.gallery@oxo
September 2004

The panels at night at the.gallery@oxo
September 2004

The result of 20 months work, 9/11: Moment of Impact consists of nine door-sized panels of coloured glass that have been sandblasted to produce an image representing the artist's emotional response to the shocking attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Prior to working with glass, I worked as a photographer specialising in close-up photography. My work on 9/11: Moment of Impact was influenced by this detailed method of working and by watching the horrific events of 9/11 unfold on television. Referring to this televisual experience I recall feeling 'frustrated that my view was limited to a single lens'. This prompted me to reject a chronological approach, instead creating an overarching image over nine panels, intensified by 40 detailed images painstakingly sandblasted into each individual section.

I have used the visual qualities of glass in order to convey the raw emotions of the attacks whilst avoiding the grotesque. Comprising two glass layers of different colour and depth, 'Flash Glass' enables drawn images to be sandblasted through the top layer, revealing an image in the second colour below. The other types of glass utilise abstract patterning: an iridized black which looks like aeroplane fuel/chemicals, a diachromic ripple which is used to sympbolise the towers and 'blood glass' which has red trails through clear glass, specially commissioned for this installation.

It is about the moment of impact - which is the title of the piece. It doesn't follow the chronological timeframe of 9/11, but reflects how I watched the TV with the different viewpoints and repeats, while trying to make coherent sense of the catastrophic event.

Reference is made to Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns and Picasso's Guernica.

The work was widely acclaimed when panel no. 9 was previewed during the International Festival of Glass at the Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge, UK - August 27th-29th 2004.

"awesome"

"shocking"

"The first major piece of work about 9/11 that I've seen."

"This should last for 400 years and more."

"To acheive such subtle detail with sandblasting is incredible."

It is planned to produce a limited edition of five sets. I undertake commisioned pieces - please register you interest using the enquiry form. All work is available for exhibition and tour. I am seeking a permanent public space to house 9/11: Moment of Impact. I am also developing a photographic body of work based on these images.

detail from panel 4 August 2004	detail from panel 6 August 2004 (a)

detail from panel No. 6 August 2004 (a)	detail from panel No. 2 August 2004 (a)

detail from panel 1 August 2004 (a)	detail from panel No. 9 August 2004

Synopsis of imagery of the panels
The centre of the piece of work (panels 4, 5 & 6) has an apple split over the panels and beyond. Two planes in the style of pop art dominate the apple. Reference to Lichtenstein's 'Whaam' painting features strongly in these panels, it was the inspiration that started me working on 9/11. I tried to replace the word 'Whaam' with another that could describe the horrific events of 9/11. I couldn't find a single word that was adequate but by splitting the word into two it resulted in Wha and am! These suggested to me both the sound of a person falling from the building that morning and the noise of children crying in the morning after for their dead parent/s.

Panel 1: This panel is about Flight 77, where passengers struggle to control the plane, away from the TV eye, before crashing into the Pentagon. This composition is based on the vertical drop on the plane with the Pentagon seen through the sight target. There is also reference to Flight 93 which came down in Pittsburgh - again away from TV cameras.

Panel 2: The top of the panel features the Statue of Liberty. The crown's points are in polluted blue sky with the word courage split across three points to read Courage (c - our - rage). The crown has a series of TV screens with the words 'Live TV'. An obvious eye of the statue stares in disbelief, it is intercepted by the use of a strong diagonal in which the other eye is angry. Under the eyes is a staircase with fireman's legs moving across and towards the centre of the explosion (as shown across the adjacent panels). Beneath the fireman's legs is a change in perspective with the cloud that swept through the streets as the towers collapsed with people escaping towards the viewer. About 13,000 people were fortunate to escape.

Panel 3: The disintegration of the building. The collapse of the towers has been symbolized by my taking an architectural feature from the top of the tower and combining it with the shape of an arrow. The scale of the building is contrasted with the human scale. There is a repeated scene with a person hanging onto the crumbling building, the hands are repeated in comic-book style. What happens to this person is not explained and refers to an unresolved sequence aspect that I have been told has worried other TV witnesses.

Panel 4: This is the left half of the apple.

Panel 5: This is about the building imploding as well as exploding. It has a non specific body in the centre.

Panel 6: This is the right half of the apple.

Panels 7 & 8: These two are about the chaos within the office spaces. The staircase runs through the two panels. Both panels include finely detailed images of contemporary objects - such as mobile phones.

Panel 7: The fireman's legs ascending are repeated going towards the centre of the explosion.

Panel 8: This has a strong vertical band in which a repeated image of a non specific person descends. It references paintings by Jasper Johns.

Panel 9: A huge cloud larger than the panel itself descends into total small-scale chaos. A small number of images from the centre apple panels are quoted. The speech bubbles contain references to the Mayor, President and Father Mychal. In amongst the chaos is a larger area with images of the distinctive skeleton of the buildings.

Panels 1 & 2 September 2004 (a)	Panel 3 September 2004 (a)

Panel 4 September 2004 (a)	Panel 5 September 2004 (a)	Panels 6 & 7 September 2004 (a)

Panel 8 September 2004 (a)	Panel 9 September 2004 (a)

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Thanks are due to ...

(z.com 11/5/05)