Carla Flati on tue 24 sep 02
Arti,
Being the "fine artist" that you are, I was really surprised at your
comment. That piece is powerful and has EVERTHING to do with art and the
artist's interpretation of that day. Forget the burning buildings, the most
vivid and terrifying images in my mind's eye of that day are of those poor
souls choosing to jump rather than burn. The buildings were only concrete
and metal. The innocent people on those planes were hopefully gone before
they knew what hit them, but it's those jumpers that had to face the
ultimate horror. It is not surprising or offensive to me at all that the
artist chose one of them for his piece. In fact, to me it was appropriate.
I have the utmost sympathy for all of those who lost loved ones on that
day, but I also know from personal experience that the "out-of-sight,
out-of-mind" approach to dealing with tragedy just doesn't work. The images
will play in our minds again and again for the rest of our lives. You never
know when they'll pop up, you just have to learn to live with them.
Seven years ago, I was on disaster call at the hospital where I worked at
the time. We had trained mostly for a nuclear disaster since we live in the
shadow of an atomic power plant. Never thought about an airline disaster
until I watched the plane go down less than a quarter of a mile from the
hospital. Some of us got to the sight before the fire trucks. It was the
most gruesome sight I will probably ever see again. Bodies, body parts
scattered everywhere. I did what I was suppose to do telling myself that if
I had a family member on that plane, I would want something to bury.
Afterward, life went on as usual or so I thought. I was on a plane headed
for Mexico City when I realized I had developed an intense fear of flying.
Started to hyperventilate and needed megadoses of vodka to keep from jumping
out of my skin. Had to get totally sloshed to get back on the plane to come
home. As gross as this may sound to many of you, I've been standing at the
meat counter in the grocery store and those images will pop back into my
mind. I just never know what will trigger them. Very often a certain odor
will set them off. What is it about that sense of smell?!? Brings back
more of my lifetime memories than anything else. No amount of counseling
will take them away. They're burned there forever and I just had to learn
to deal with them. I'm currently amassing large quantities of valium to
make it to San Diego. The timing has to be just right since I can't show up
totally stoned at the car rental counter. I'll get through it though. Just
like I'll get through my new set of images of 9/11. We all have to find a
way to get through it, but we can never expect to forget it.
Carla
Rush wrote:
> Nice piece of shock art....Makes lots of >headlines....Makes the =
>"artist" fame and money....fits right in there with >what many would like =
>art to be in the early 21st century...has 0 to do >with art...Osammy been =
>hiding should claim "Performance Art"....Then he >could be a big hero of =
>the art would..."Oh, it really made me think, I love >the way corn was =
>used for texture".....Total unmitigated bullshit
>Rush
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