on three

"The sight of people jumping saved lives, too. In the south tower, people had a close-up view of people plunging to their deaths from a building that was a mirror image of their own. "I looked at a couple of people jumping, and that was it. I'd seen enough. I said, 'We've got to get the hell out of here,' " says Jaede Barg, who worked for Aon on the south tower's 100th floor.

Many south tower survivors say the sight of people jumping created an urgency that caused them to leave immediately and ignore announcements that it was safe to return to their desks. About 1,400 people evacuated the upper floors before the second jet hit."

- Excerpt from the article "Desperation forced a horrific decision" By Dennis Cauchon and Martha Moore, USA TODAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

on 9.11.01 two people are photographed jumping from the north tower holding hands. did they count to three? They must have had this conversation before ending with the count we are all so familiar with.

"ok, ready? on three.. one.. two.."

beginning

as with almost all my shows, the ideas come at first in the form of post-it notes. a habit i picked up during the early part of what would become '19-ufo's'. an idea would hit me for a character while i was at work so i would scribble it on one of my endless supply of post-it notes and stick it on my monitor; the entire show framed my computer in miniature.
so, we begin with yellow squares of ideas and the initial inspiration. I read an article from USA Today (excerpt above) and was amazed to find that the "9/11 jumpers" as they came to be known actually saved lives - in their desperate act they inadvertently convinced some people in the adjacent south tower to leave despite the terrible advice by security to go "back to work".

this subject is considered by many to be the most unspeakable part of that terrible day and the most morbidly fascinating. an estimated 200 people chose to jump rather then burn and of those, photographers captured many. After reading the article i looked up the subject online and found a picture of two people holding hands as they fell. i was stunned not by the image but by the instant understanding that i had of what they must have had to discuss before jumping together. They must have agreed somehow to do it at the same time and although their words can never be known for sure, if it were me i would have counted to three. and with that the image turned beautiful for me. no longer a creepy image of two people being forced to die, but of love in it's most basic form and who among us has not at some point wondered who if anyone will hold our hand as we die.

the dark

my work, although more varied in theme then many people think, tends nonetheless to be of a depressing nature. suicide is a common theme. i have earned a reputation for darkness in my ideas, even going so far as having the daughter of a gallery owner tell me once in regard to my show "your stuff is beautiful but i would never want any of it hanging in my house." - perhaps the greatest compliment i have ever had. the idea of painting a portrait of the two jumpers was immediately appealing.

a word of warning

the show will consist of seven or eight pieces and all these pieces are based on actual photos - they will be interpretations of photos (in my style) but the body positions (arms, legs, hands, etc.) will be as accurate as possible. This is of vital importance to me as these paintings will be of real people, identified not by name but by the frozen positions they were captured in during the 8-second fall.
8 seconds.. an eternity.
No money will be made from this body of work - all proceeds will go to a 9/11 family charity to be named later.