Kodak Moments, Flashbulb Memories: Reflections on 9/11

Home , 20th hijacker, Kodak, Windows on the World

Kodak Moments, Flashbulb Memories

Reections on 9/11

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

Atabanquetgiven by anoblemanof Thessaly namedScopas, thepoet Simonidesof Ceos chanted a lyric poemin honour of his hostbut including apassage inpraise ofCastor and Pollux. Scopas meanlytold the poet that hewould only pay himhalf thesum agreed uponfor thepanegyric andthat hemust obtain the rest fromthe twin gods towhomhe had devotedhalf the poem.A littlelater ,amessagewas brought into Simonidesthat twoyoung menwere waitingoutside who wished toseehim. He rose from the banquet andwent out but could ndno one.During his absencethe roof of the banquetinghall fellin, crushing Scopas andall theguests todeath beneath theruins; the corpses were somangled that therelatives who cameto take themaway for burial were unableto identify them. But Simonides rememberedthe places at which theyhad beensitting at thetable and was thereforeable to indicate to therelatives which were theirdead. [...] This experiencesuggested to the poet the principles of the art ofmemoryof which heis said to be the inventor .Notingthat itwas through his memoryof the places at which theguests had beensitting that hehad beenable toidentify thebodies, he realized that orderlyarrangement is essential for goodmemory . —Cicero (in Yates 1996:1–2)1

Thecatastrophe has transformed life in New York City.Cityof cials speak of rings.Extending out from GroundZero are the ever largerrings that de ne physi- caland emotional proximity to the disaster. Grassroots responses tothetrauma havebeen spontaneous,improvised, andubiquitous. Every surface ofthecity — sidewalks, lampposts,fences, telephonebooths, barricades, garbagedumpsters, andwalls —wasblanketed with candles, owers, ags,and missing persons’ posters. Theseposters —wedding orgraduationphotographs from afamilyalbum, accompanied by intimatedetails of identifyingmarks onthe body —hungin suspensionbetween a callfor informationand a deathnotice. They quickly be- camethe focal point of shrinesmemorializing the missing and presumed de-

TheDrama Review 47, 1 (T177), Spring 2003. Copyright q 2003 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

11 12 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett ceased. Theshrines appeared inparks, subwaystations, rehouses,police stations, hospitals,and on stoops.Large crowds gatheredspontaneously for vigils.W ecall theevent and its aftermath 9/11. Not only is 9/11 awayof sayingSeptember 11 American-style,with the month rst,but also —ironically—911 is our emer- gencyphone number. 2 Thecity post- 9/11 is morelike what I remember from the 1970s, whenit was facingbankruptcy ,thanthe years right before 9/11,whenit was awash with money.Afuent New York ofthelast decade wasunder the tight control of the Giulianiadministration, which clamped down onstreet vendors, streetperfor- mance,community gardens and casitas, and reworks. Arrestsfor minor“ quality oflife”crimes were common.It is notsurprising then that the Department of Parks andRecreation halted the creation of memorialsin parks threeweeks after thedisaster and despite continuingprotests. They have been collectingmemorials andsaving them in a warehouse.Susan Sipos, whotakes care of Jefferson Market Garden,is compostingthe owersfrom shrinesat restations in theneighbor- hood (Magro 2001).Thiscompost willnurture new plants dedicated tothemem- oryof themany remenwho perished whiletrying to rescue thosecaught in fallingbuildings. Theattack on theW orldT rade Centeris said tobe themost photographed di- sasterin history .Thisis acitydesigned tolook at itselffrom spectacularvantage points,whether from thetops of Manhattan’s signatureskyscrapers, high-rise apartments,and tenements; from thestreets; along suspension bridges; onboats alongthe rivers surroundingthe island; or from Queens,Brooklyn, and New Jer- sey.Theattack produced aspectacle thatwas photographed incessantly and seen instantaneouslyacross theglobe. Within a shorttime, Mayor Rudolf W .Giuliani issued anexecutiveorder banningamateur photographs of theW orldT rade Cen- terruins because, ashis of ce explained,the site was a crime scene,not a tourist attraction.Flyers were posted inthe area: “ WARNING!NO camerasor video equipmentpermitted! VIOLATORS will be prosecuted andequipment seized!” Thisban indexes thequarantine that has separated the disaster scene from therest ofthecity .Weknew itwas there, but we couldnot visit the site. W eweretold to goback towork, goshopping, go toBroadwayshows, and eat in restaurants— spending moneywas a civic duty—asif therest of thecity was now back tonor- mal.The disaster even issued itsown currency in the form of RevengePromissory Notesin onlyone denomination: $ 2001 (Ross 2001).Wasthis a valianteffort to rebound orpartof alargerproblem? “Ashatterednation longs to care about stupid bullshitagain” was the subject of asatiricalarticle that appeared inthe Onion, ahumornewspaper, intheir 3 October 2001 issue. Tohavebeen soclose to the disaster and yet so insulated from itmeans that we tooknew itfrom photographsrather than from direct experience of theruin. W e lookand do notsee thetowers. But, neither can we see wherethey should have been.The gashon theground is anegativespace, agiantfootprint, in the tangled confusionof adisorientedLower Manhattan.Once the smoke cleared,the wound inthe sky leftno visible trace.There is simply nothingthere. The skylinehas become doublyhistorical. It is atoncethe skyline before therewas a WorldT rade Centerand the skyline after its disappearance. Nothingin the sky indicatesthat thetowers ever existed. Televisionproducers rushed todigitally remove the T winT owersfrom seg- mentsshot before 9/11 tobe airedlater. They feared thatviewers wouldbe trau- matizedand distracted by thesight of thetowers. The United States Postal Service modied theskyline that was to appear onits 2002 “Greetingsfrom New York” stamp.But, what will happen to themany images of Manhattan’s iconicskyline onbusiness cards, trucks, maps, stores,tourist guides, postcards, andsouvenirs? Kodak Moments 13

1.Humorwas slow toap- pear after 9/11 but the On- Theintact skyline is everywhereexcept whereit should be. Itis inescapableand ion was oneof the rst to irreplaceable.Even an advertising postcard for Chinatown—withits bowl carry- publishsatire related to the ingan icon of theW orldT radeCenter —isachillingreminder of howmuch we disaster:“ AShatteredNa- tookfor granted.What were once souvenirs or logosor usefulmaps havebecome tionLongs toCare about mementos.They have acquired astrangeaura, a penumbraof sadness.Theyseem StupidBullshit Again.” todefy theloss. (,http://www.theonion. com/onion3735/ Kodak Moments a_shattered_nation.html .)

WhenPresident Bush told T onyBlair in November 2001 thatthe war in Af- 2.Welostthe image war . ghanistanwas “ notone of theseKodak moments,”he meantthat there were no Osama wins anOscar for pictures, or,more precisely ,thatthere was nothing photogenic about this war (in “BestDirector for Apoca- Bumiller 2001:B3).Whiletrivializing the role of imagesin thisbattle, he implic- lypsein New York.”Con- itlyacknowledged theirimportance. Amid allthe uncertainties, one thing became tributedby ManoloMun ˜iz clear:W elostthe image war. A humorousimage of Osamabin Laden holdingan tothe Spanish humor Oscar for best directorfor the lm Apocalypsein New York hasbeen circulatingon website ,http://www. theInternet. Neither pastoral photographs of Afghansin desolatelandscapes nor tonterias.com . (,http:// patrioticimages of agsat home were any match for thespectacle of airplanes tonterias.iespana.es/ ramminginto the towers, the buildings exploding in a gigantic reball,people tonterias/especial/ leapingto theirdeaths (these images have been off-limitsexcept onweb sitesthat torresgemelas/ cross thenormative threshold of whatcan be shown),a lingeringplume of smoke, oscarBinLaden.jpg .) thecascading collapse of thetowers, and heroic efforts toretrieve bodies from the 14 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett rubble. Thereis nomatchfor thesight of self-destruction:our very ownplanes wereturned into missiles aimedstraight at us and, should one of ourplanes be hijacked inthe future, our military is nowauthorized to shootit down rather than allowit to hit its target. With no “valuabletargets” in Afghanistan for American bombs tohitand a tightlid oninformation from thefront, the Kodak moments ofthiswar were restricted towhat New York Times page-onepicture editor Philip Gefter characterizedas Biblical images of Afghansin barren desert andmountain landscapes ( 2001).Morelike the snapshots a touristmight bring home from ava- cationthan news photographsfrom awarzone, these images made iteven more difcult to understand why we werebombing sucha desolateplace. Byimplication, the attack on theW orldT rade Centerwas the ultimate Kodak moment.The term evokes amateursnapshots, candid imagesof everydaylife or special events,not spectacular pictures ofGroundZero or thetheatre of wartaken by professionalphotographers with exclusive access tothe action. “ Kodak moment”suggests the Brownie camera of yearsgone by ortheinstamatic or dispos- ablecamera of today.Thatsaid, wasthe attack on the W orldT rade Centerno morethan a Kodak momentfor thethousands of amateurphotographers who shotthe disaster and its aftermath? The nervousness about photography as aneth- icallysuspect practice wasexpressed notonlyin ofcial signs prohibiting unautho- rized photographyof GroundZero, but also by protestorswho admonished eager amateurswith posters oftheirown:

All OfYouTakingPhotos Iwonderif youreally see whatis hereor if you’re so concerned withget- tingthat perfect shotthat you’ ve forgottenthis is atragedysite, not a tourist attraction.As Icontinuallyhad to move “outof someone’s way”as they carefullytried to frame thisplace [of]mourning.I kept wonderingwhat makes usthinkwe cancapture the pain, the loss, the pride &theconfu- sion—thiscomplexity —intoa 42 5 glossy. I k mycity —Firegirl,NYC, 09-17-01

3.Americameraat Ground Zero (3 November 2001). (Photo q Martha Cooper) Kodak Moments 15 Themotives of professionalphotographers were not questioned. After all, tak- ingpictures is theirjob .Hopefully,theirphotographs would convey the full scope of thedevastation and rally support for rebuildingNew York. Themotives of amateurs,however, were suspect. Werethey voyeurs gawking at thespectacle? Were theydisplaying a ghoulishfascination with the macabre? Werethey deriving per- verse pleasurefrom thetragedy? Such attitudes would of coursebe undignied, disrespectful, andunseemly .Or,even worse, were all of usfullling a script by doingprecisely whatwas intended by theattackers? Namely ,we werespellbound by thecatastrophic spectacle, not just at themoment of impact,but, thanks to all thephotographs and videotapes we made,forever after.Reruns, according to the script, willdeepen thepsychic damagethat terror is about. Photographymaterialized the morally ambiguous activity of watching.As Su- sanSontag has noted in OnPhotography ,“Thecamera makes everyonea touristin otherpeople’ s reality,andeventually in one’ s own”([ 1974] 1977:57). More than onecommentator has notedthat the events of 9/11 hadthe singular effect ofmak- ingall of ustouristsin our own lives by makingit impossible totake things for granted.The disaster profoundly disrupted eventhe most banal routines of daily life.W eread newsubway maps asif we arestrangers to the city .Paranoiahas become theorder oftheday .Wend thedisaster hidden andanticipated in ordinary words andnumbers andeveryday things. The world is acoded message.The new 20-dollarbill, when folded, becomes anorigamialert. With the rstfold, “You’ll immediatelysee thePentagon ablaze!” With the next fold, “TheT winT owers of theW orldT rade Centerare hit and smoking.” Keep foldingand the note will spellOsama (Linky andDinky 2002).“Coincidenceor conspiracy?” Glenn Beck asks, “Wasthe entire game plan for September 11thprinted onour money?” (Glennbeck.com 2002).Wethinklike tourists —ormoreaccurately terrorists — inorder toanticipateand protect ourselves from danger.It is ourconsciousness thatwas the target of theattack. It has become anindelible part of us.Within weeks, therewere tattoos showing a planecrashing into one of thetowers. 4.It isourconsciousness Indeed, ourworld has become amuseumof itself.In October 2001, the New that was thetarget ofthe York Times rana series of articlesdescribed as“reportingon workaday objects that attack. Contributedby resonatein unusual ways in the aftermath of Sept. 11”—for example,an ordinary BetzabeJara Carretoto the pairof handcuffs thatbecame adiggingtool (Dwyer 2002:B1).Eventhe most Spanish humorwebsite commonplaceobjects —achild’s fork, vegetablepeeler, matches, nail polish re- ,http://www.tonterias. mover—havebecome potentialweapons and are con scated from passengers go- com.. (,http://tonterias. ingthrough security .Butthen, in light of 9/11,nothingis ordinary.Evenirony , iespana.es/tonterias/ whichhad been displaced by hyperbolicdisplays ofpatriotism,found awayto ap- especial/torresgemelas/ pearin unlikely places. Randomjuxtapositions —and avion_cabeza.jpg .) theirunintended ironies —appeared onphonebooths alongCanal Street: Ayellowpolice tape and missing person noticewas afxed toan advertisement for ContinentalAirlines, whosemotto is “...dependable service, timeafter time.” Aposted public service announcementasks, “What’s wrongwith this picture?” The picture, which shows a carparked illegallyin a spot reserved for thedisabled, waspartially covered by amissingperson poster. Policetape and a noticetelling emergency workers whereto nd food andwater were stuck toanadver- tisementfor Verizonthat reads, “Yourgrip tightens, teethgrind, you knew youshould have gone the other way.Callbefore yougo...” 16 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett FlashbulbMemories GroundZero has become hallowedground as wellas an attraction,but for most ofusit was off limitsuntil there was nothing left to see buta gapinghole. The bereaved were broughtto thesight to mourn. VIPs weretaken on guided tours by footand helicopter for maximumimpact andhopefully nancialsupport. And thoseof usdeprived of ourKodak momentshave our ashbulbmemories. Flash- bulb memories,according to psychologistsRoger Brown and James Kulick,have thevividness anddetailof aashphotograph ( 1977:73–99).Theyoccur whenthe triggeringevent combines elementsof surprise, emotionalintensity ,andconse- quentiality.Itis notnecessary to have been presentat the bombing of Pearl Harbor,the assassinationof JohnF .Kennedyor MartinLuther King, Jr., the Chal- lengerdisaster, or the events of 9/11.Whatwe remember sovividly ,if notaccu- ratelyover time, are the circumstances in whichwe rstlearned of thetragedy . Whatwe valueis thepowerful sense of havingbeen presentfor amomentoushis- toricalevent. One New Zealanderreported thatwhen he heard the news at 5:30 a.m.,onW ednesday 12 September (New Zealandis 17 hoursahead of New York), hethoughtit was a hoax:“ Whatis this?Is itOrson W elles’s War of the Worlds?”Anothertold me thatshe remembered precisely themoment that she heardthe news. She was in a cafe´andwhat she recalls most clearly is thecollective feelingof profound emptiness. Whileall three attacks on 9/11 areprime candidatesfor ashbulbmemory ,the sheerspectacle of theW orldT rade Centercollapse (and magnitudeof thecasual- ties)overshadows the attack on the Pentagon and the plane that crashed intoa eld inPennsylvania.

Iconographic Unconscious Manywitnesses to thecollapse of thetowers reported asense of unreality.They feltlike they were watchinga moviethey had seen before. Indeed, oneof the moresurreal attractions in Manhattan, in the Empire StateBuilding, is theNew York Skyride, whosemotto is “Feelthe Sights.” Created long before 9/11, this ightsimulator attraction, which cost millions of dollars,is tooexpensive to changeor discontinueand so it continues.This ride isanenactment of thepoten- tial for 9/11 asaseries ofnearmisses. Youarein aplanepiloted by aliens.The planeis outof control.It almost crashes into everything. W asthisa rehearsalfor whatcame to pass? Oncethe towers fell, not only were plans to useimages of theimminent or actualexplosion of theW orldT rade Towersconsidered bad timing,but also were viewed asthe iconographic unconscious infull play .Thecover for theCoup’ s Party Music,ahip-hopCD ,showed twomusicians, one holding a guitartuner that looks likea detonatorand the other conducting with two batons, in front of theexplod- ingtwin towers. The photograph for theCD cover wastaken on 15 May 2001. The CDwasto be releasedin November 2001.Rightafter 9/11,theypulled this image, whichwas intended as “ ametaphorfor destroyingcapitalism” (MC BootsRiley quotedin Goedde 2001), andlater replaced itwith one of acocktailglass lledwith keroseneand set on reto suggesta Molotovcocktail ( Juon 2002). One of the songsis entitled“ 5 MillionW aysto Killa C.E.O.,”whichseemed toanticipate theaccounting scandals that sent stocks tumblingseveral months later. A nation- wide advertisingcampaign for MarchonEyewear, which was launched on 23 Au- gust 2001,highlightedthe exibilityof frames made from Flexonby showingthe Empire StateBuilding bending out of theway to avoid being hit by aplane.Ac- companyingthe image are the words “If onlyall metal were FLEXON.”The companypulled the ad withinan hour of theattacks (Zehren 2001). During Kodak Moments 17 WorldW arII, on 28 July 1945,anAmerican bomber accidentallycrashed intothe Empire StateBuilding (New York Times 1945:1ff )andan armyairplane into the ManhattanCompany Building at 40 WallStreeton 20 May 1946 (Long 1946:1ff ). Theseevents continue to hauntNew Yorkers. New imagesof KingKong, who defended theEmpire StateBuilding in 1933 andthe W orldT rade Centerin 1976, startedcirculating after the attacks, as did accountsof theearliercrashes. Twodays after 9/11,ightsimulation enthusiasts wondered: “Whatif itturns outthat the terrorists also honed their skills using MicrosoftFlight Simulator ? [...] Weknow thatone of thethrills of thesimulated Manhattan skyline is threading throughthe twintowers” (Wice 2001).Aightsimulator computer program was amongthe incriminating items found inthe possession ofZacariasMoussaoui, thoughtto be the 20thhijacker, whenhe was arrested, and, just days before the 2002 anniversaryof 9/11, the New York Times reported that,“ Amagazineon y- ingand a ightsimulator computer game were among the items found ata sus- pected AlQaeda base inKabul” (Filkins 2002:3). MicrosoftFlight Simulator 2000, an $80.00 civilian ightsimulator program that runson a PC,features extremely realistic 3-Dsceneryand various Boeing jets. Shortlyafter the attack, Microsoft decided todelay release of the 2002 version and toedit the game introduction, in which two people usingthe software say ,“John, youjust about crashed intothe Empire StateBuilding! Hey ,thatwould be cool” (CNN 2001).“Outof respect for thevictims, ourcustomers, partners and em- ployees,”Microsoft alsocreated a ightsimulator patch “ thatwill remove the WorldT rade Centertowers from FlightSimulator 2000”(Microsoft 2001). This

5.“Whatif itturnsout that theterrorists also honed theirskills using Microsoft FlightSimulator ? [...] We knowthat oneof thethrills ofthesimulated Manhattan skylineis threadingthrough thetwin towers.” A screen- shotof MicrosoftFlight Simulator 2000 from “Did Terrorists Trainwith Com- monPC Flight Simula- tor?”by NathanialWice, in On Magazine, 13 Sep- tember 2001 (,http:// www.onmagazine.com/ on-mag/reviews/article/ 0,9985,174835,00.html.; screenshotby Geoff Keighley) 18 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett programis alsomarketed toactualpilots who want to increase their pro ciency , whileother programs, which are based onactual military training exercises, “afew disguised asgames,”go “rightto thebleeding edge ofasecuritybreach” (Ad- vanced SimulationSystems 2002).Onthe Saturday following the attacks, many planeswere stillon the ground, but “ ina showof solidarity,morethan 2,000 ight-simenthusiasts spent the day online, yingthrough a virtualU .S.airspace ontheNet” (Snider 2001). IftheNew York Skyride is apreplayof nearmisses and MicrosoftFlight Simulator apractice ight, New York Defender (AlbinoBlacksheep 2002),agameon theIn- ternetthat was up andrunning by March 2002,ifnotearlier, is areplay,withthe possibilityof avertingthe disaster if youraim is goodenough. The rstplane ap- proachesthe tower and your task is toshoot it down. Y oumiss? Thebuilding goes upin amesas youtry to shoot down the second plane.Y oumiss again?Both towerscollapse. Keep tryinguntil disaster is nallyaverted. Othergames let you ghtthe war in Afghanistan. While counterterrorism has longbeen popularwith computer gamers, there was a shortlull right after 9/11, followedby aresurgenceof gameswhose theme is thewar in Afghanistan. Ethan McKinnonand Drew Bayeof Orlando,Florida, re ecting on the range of responses to 9/11,from patrioticdisplays andcharitable work todark humor,“ decided toex- press theiranger by developinga gamebased onthepopular rst-person,team- orientedgenre in which the search for anddeath of Osamabin Laden wouldbe the centraltheme.” After gaming companies refused toconsider theidea, in part be- causethey did notwish “ tobe seenas cashingin on the September 11 tragedy,” McKinnonand Baye founded theirown company ,Dead TreeEntertainment, and created OperationCat’ s Lair: The Huntfor Osama binLaden aspart of theW aron TerrorismSeries. This game allows “ thegamer full immersion into a realisticen- vironmentof dangerousmissions” (McKinnon and Baye 2002). Asa reviewer of anothergame, OperationJust Reward ,concluded, “Killing Osamabin Laden, even[if ]itis inthe virtual gaming world, is agreatfeeling” (Pie4Foo 2002). Anexample of “tacticalgaming,” OperationJust Reward , which wascreated by Akira,carried thefollowing message on its opening page: “ In memoryof thosekilled inacts of terrorism”; thewarning that, “ Thismod may containmaterial deemed offensive tosomepeople suchas sympathisers of terrorist groups,peace lobbyistsand certain organisations. Others may nditinsensitive. If so,please do notplay this mod” ; andthe disclaimer that:

Althoughthis mod isa[ sic]based onreallife events —manydetails remain speculativeand ctional.Please do notconsider theevents in thisgame as bearingany truth. Y ouagreeto play this mod atYOUROWNRISK.The authorsdo nottake responsibility for anybehaviour or eventsstemming from thegameplay contained within this mod. (Akira_AU 2001)

Suchgames are a consumerversion of thecomputer simulations of warthat are used totrain the military .Indeed, thePentagon avoids thenews media,whose criticalreporting it cannot control, and collaborates with Hollywood on “ mili- tainment.”For example,it is advisingon the television series JAG (Judge Advo- cateGeneral’ s corps), whichwill feature ctionalmilitary tribunals —inlieu of newsbroadcasts of theactual ones, which are to be heldin secret. As Robert Lich- terhas remarked, “News used tobe the rstdraft ofhistory[...]. Now it’s the rst draft ofascreenplay.News andentertainment have merged already.Thequestion nowis whoseversion gets to thepublic rst”(in Seelye 2002:A12). Thesky wasthe ultimate big screen.Life seemed toovertake ctionand imitate art.For some,it was the smell of smoke thatbroke thecinematic spell. For others, Kodak Moments 19

6.Flag seller,Wall Street. The disaster was quickly followedby politicaland commercialexploitation of aninitial surge ofspontane- ouspatriotism. The ag also becameprotective color- ationfor thosewho feltvul- nerablein an increasingly xenophobicatmosphere ( 27 September 2001). (Photo by Barbara Kirshenblatt- Gimblett)

discovering theconcrete consequences of theattack made thereality of thecatas- trophesink in.Those consequences wereconveyed notonly through the media, butwith even greater immediacy by themany shrines and memorials that blan- keted thecity .Atthecenter of thoseshrines were Kodak momentsin thelives of themissing and presumed dead. Inthe absence ofabody,aphotographbecame theonly tangible address towhich mourners could bring their prayers. Indeed, as itbecame increasinglyclear that photographs were virtuallyuseless for identifying missingpersons— only DNA evidence from body fragmentswould do —photo- graphsbecame “paper monumentsin the stone cemetery of thecity” (Kuzub 2001).Surroundedby owersand candles, teddy bears, anditems of clothing,they became votiveobjects. But,unlike a tombstonethat marks asingulargrave, these paper monuments,photocopied onstandard 8.5 2 11–inchsheets, multiplied the spectralpresence of themissing. They were now literally in more than one place ata time,but nowhere to be found.They were announced, but not laid to rest. Familiesof thecon rmed orpresumed dead weregiven a handfulof dust from thesite. Reverend James P.Moroneyadvised bishops “thatif dust from thesite wasreasonably believed tocontain human remains —of anyone—itcould be bur- ied by agrievingfamily in place ofabody”(W akin 2001:B9).

ADemocracyof Photographs Thanksto “ oneof themost powerful selling ideas of alltime,” according to Kodak in 1999, more than “77 billionpictures areshot [...] everyyear worldwide” 20 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (Keegan 1999:12).Notsurprising then that so many people shouldhave taken so manyphotographs of theevents of 9/11 andtheir aftermath. Thanks to digital cameras,there is virtuallyno time lag between the event and seeing the image. Theimage is literallypart of theevent. More than one person hasputthe towers back intothe skyline by holdinga photographof thetowers up totheskyline in theprecise locationwhere that photograph had been taken—andthen proceed- ingto take a photographof thatgesture —whetherfrom atenementrooftop or theBrooklyn side oftheEast River. The same effect hasalso been achieved digi- tally. Recognizingthat photography is oneofthemost powerful responses totheat- tack, HereIs New York,Images fromthe Frontline of History:A Democracy ofPhoto- graphs,opened withinweeks of 9/11.3 AvacantSoho shop fronton Prince Street, previouslyoccupied by Agne`s B.,the expensive Frenchfashion designer, was quickly converted intoa temporaryhub for theaccumulation and sale of photographs.Looking more like the Soho of thepioneering 1970sthanthe Soho of the af uent ’90s, thesmall, brightly lit, white space of HereIs New York inManhattan wascovered withphotographs. Identi ed onlyby atinynumber, the images that arepart of thistraveling exhibit are clipped towires strungalong the walls and across thespace, likelaundry on alineor wetnegatives and printsin adarkroom. Thereare no frames, nolabels, no names,and no uniformed guards. According toitscreators, this show “ is tailoredto thenature of theevent, and to the response ithas elicited,” notably a plethoraof photographsby professionalsand amateurs. Thisproject aims“ todevelop anewway of lookingat andthinking about history , aswellas a wayof makingsense of allof theimages which continue to hauntus.” Inthis spirit:

[E]veryonewho has taken pictures relatedto the tragedy is invitedto bring orftp theirimages to the gallery ,wherethey will be digitallyscanned, ar- chivally [sic]printed anddisplayed onthe walls alongside the work of top photojournalistsand otherphotographers. [...] Allprints will be sold for the samenominal and xed price, irrespective oftheirprovenance. (Here Is New York 2001)

Netproceeds gotothe Children’ s Aid Society. Theoverwhelming response totheinstallation has prompted theorganizers to expand theexhibition into an adjoining storefront. The exhibition, which was intended tolast no morethan two months, was extended toChristmas and then, eventually,untilSeptember 2002,whenit moved toWashington,DC. So much interestwas generated that the exhibition is nowtraveling around the world anda book hasbeen published (Here Is New York 2002a).A second locationwith a broader mandate, History Unframed ,opened briey inApril 2002 on 1105 Sixth Avenue at 42nd Street,near the International Center for Photography,which awarded HereIs NewY ork the 2002 CornellCapa Award for distinguishedachieve- mentin photography .Allthose who submitted photographs—amateursand professionalsalike —havebeen invitedto be interviewedon video aboutthe images theycontributed; the nalinterviews were incorporated into the exhibition itself at 116 PrinceStreet. After the opening of History Unframed ,contributorsto that exhibitwere also invited to be partof agroupportrait. HereIs New York takesits name from E.B.White’ s famousessay ,writtenin a Manhattanhotel room during a hotsummer in 1948,andspeci cally from anom- inouspassage that anticipated the disaster:

Thecity ,for the rsttime in its long history ,isdestructible.A single ight of planesno bigger than a wedge ofgeesecan quickly end thisisland fan- Kodak Moments 21 7.Respondingto asense that 9/11 was the most photographeddisaster in history,theproject Here Is New York, Imagesfrom theFrontline of History: ADemocracy of Photo- graphs invitedeveryone to submitphotographs. The images,by professionalsand amateursalike, were in- stalledin a vacant Soho storefront,without frames or attribution,and sold for $25.00 each,the money go- ingto the Children’ s Aid Society.The exhibitionwas intendednot only to docu- mentbut also tomemorial- izethe event ( 24 October 2001).(Photoby Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett)

tasy,burnthe towers, crumble thebridges, turnthe undergroundpassages intolethal chambers, crematethe millions. The intimation of mortalityis partof New York inthe sound of jets overhead,in the black headlineof the latestedition. ( 1949:50–51)

Indeed, duringW orldW arII,there were two incidents of Americanwarplanes accidentallycrashing into Manhattan skyscrapers, asdiscussed above.This worst- case scenariowas Hitler’ s best-casescenario as recalledby AlbertSpeer inhis se- cretdiaries, published justone year prior toWhite’ s book. Speer reports:

[He] neversaw him [Hitler] so worked up astoward the end ofthewar, whenin a kind of deliriumhe pictured for himselfand for usthedestruc- tionof New York inahurricaneof re.He described theskyscrapers being turnedinto gigantic burning torches, collapsing upon one another, the glowof theexploding city illuminating the dark sky.([ 1948] 1976:87)

Here Is New York wasstaffed by volunteers,from thecity’ s mostdistinguished photographers,curators, and editors to amateur photographers. Professionals se- lectedthe images from thesubmissions andthey and others logged and scanned theimages, printed themout on demand, andassisted withsales. As the project expanded, muchof theprinting was done elsewhere. Duringthe rstfew monthsafter 9/11,thePrince Street room was more like a laboratory,alightroomfor digitalimages rather than a darkroom for analog lm. Visitors lledthe space andspilled outonto the street. At its peak, thespace ac- commodated morethan 3,000 visitorsa day,andmany of themlined up alongthe sidewalk for hours,waiting to enter. Some 300,000 people sawthe exhibition over the 12 monthsthat it occupied thePrince Street venue. Witha collectionof 7,000 photographs,which is stillgrowing, and 1.5 million visitorsto the exhibition worldwide thusfar, “ HereIs NewY ork is withoutques- tionthe largest archive of itskind inhistory ,andmay well become themost looked-atexhibition of ourtime” (Here Is New York 2002b). Thesale of images 22 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

8.Memorialwall by gratti artist Chico,on Avenue A at 14th Street,lower Man- hattan.Chico, a celebrated grafti artist who liveson theLower EastSide, im- mediatelypainted this memorialwall tohonor the victimsof theattack. Neighbors spontaneously brought candles, owers, pictures,toys, and religious iconsto thewall andgath- eredthere to pay theirre- spects tothe dead ( 14 September 2001). (Photo by Barbara Kirshenblatt- Gimblett)

hasalready generated more than $ 600,000 for theChildren’ s AidSociety .The web site,in the form ofanelectronic archive, lists all the places towhich the ex- hibitionwill travel and collects commentaries on the photographs from anyone visitingthe site. 4 Theweb site,which is adigitalarchive, has already logged more thanone million hits. A video andoral history component of theexhibition, entitled HereIs New York:V oicesof 9.11,opened attheStaten Island Historical Soci- etyin September 2002.Allvisitors, whether or not they contributed photographs totheexhibition, were invited to record theirstories, in anylanguage, in aprivate video boothwithin the exhibition itself. The invitation has been issued inEnglish, Spanish,and Arabic. Public andcontinuousshowings of thisexhibition marked the rstanniversary ofthedisaster. Between 8 and 12 September 2002,imagesof theattacks in New York, Pennsylvania,and W ashington,DC, were projected continuouslyon large video walls, 13 2 18 feetin size, ontheEllipse near the White House, and in- stalledin the Corcoran Gallery in W ashington,DC. V ersionsof theexhibition willtravel to severalother cities in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Consis- tentwith the original conception of theproject asa“democracy ofphotographs,” theimages will appear unframedand without commentary or provenance,in order “tocommemorateand memorialize these tragic events, showing what happened from asmanydifferent anglesas possible, asan aid both to healing and to graspingthe human dimension of whattook place,” in thewords ofMichaelShu- lan(Here Is New York 2002c). Withinabout a week of theattacks, outdoor shrines were discouraged,if not prohibited, andphotographs and exhibitions of thembecame shrinesin their own right.Shrines at Union Square were removed on 19 September because of arain forecast,according to Jane Rudolph, spokesperson for New York City’s Depart- Kodak Moments 23 mentof Parks andRecreation. She explained that the memorials that could be salvagedwere being saved untilsuch time as museums and other institutions de- terminedwhat should be donewith them (in Jensen 2001).Shrines,candles, and missingposters thatappeared after 19 September werealso removed aftera short time,due inpart to safety issues (candlewax is slippery,accumulationof debris) andplans to cleanand renovatethe area. By June 2002,theDepartment of Trans- portationhad posted noticesat Ground Zero stating that memorabilia would be removed daily. Themany photographs that feature shrines were ultimately all that was left of thememorials ( Jensen 2001).AtUnion Square, people posted photographsof the shrinesthat were once there, with messages protesting their removal. No longer werethe parks thecity’ s “greencathedral,” in Parks CommissionerHenry Stern’ s words. Makeshift public mourninghad been supplantedby plansfor apermanent memorial(Magro 2001).Projects suchas HereIs NewY ork retainthe spontaneous, makeshift,and intensely personal quality of themany shrines that once covered thecity .Like thephoto exhibit, the memorial installations are dense, ephemeral, andassembled from inexpensivematerials. They are inclusive and raw .Theyare self-organizing.Above all,by encouragingcreativity without artistic ambition, theyhelp to close the gap betweenart and life. Nowonder then that such exhibitions have become aplaceto mourn.Some viewers attendto the many photographs taken by thousandsof eyewitnessesin order topayrespect tovictims andrescuers. Otherslook at thepictures toimpress uponthemselves the magnitude of thedisaster, even as its meaning remains elusive. ExitArt, which de nes itself as a“non-prot interdisciplinarylaboratory for contemporaryculture,” approached theseissues by puttingout a callfor responses to 9/11 (Exit Art 2001).Theonly requirement was that all submissions be onan 8.5 2 11–inchpiece of paper. Contributorssubmitted writings,drawings, photographs,and collages. The curators decided toaccept everything.There was to be noselection. Responses camefrom professionalartists, ordinary people, and evenhomeless individuals with no returnaddress. Theresult, some 3,500 submis-

9.UnionSquare, which starts at 14th Street,the linethat demarcatedthe fro- zenzone, became the focal pointfor spontaneousgath- erings,vigils, and memorials (14 September 2001). (Photoby Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett) 24 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett sions,was inclusive, with no hierarchy ,andthe contributions represented awide rangeof perspectives. Entrieswere mounted on simple magneticstrips, hungfrom theceiling, row upon row ,inmodular symmetry . WhileExit Art’ s Reactions and HereIs New York arenot the only projects solic- itingphotographs and other materials, they are among the earliest and most effec- tive.They are remarkable for manyreasons, not least of whichhas been their opennessto materialfrom allsources andthe steps theyhave taken to encourage thefullest possible participation.Equivocating between affecting presence and documentation,the kaleidoscopic panoramaof imagesin such installations is at oncea patchwork offragmentaryglimpses, anincomplete puzzle ofloosepieces, anda stutteringutterance. Such installations offer acapaciousspace for response.

MuseumsRespond Artand historical collections in the W orldT radeCenter itself were destroyed. Lost is thearchive of thePort Authority of New York andNew Jersey,whichdoc- umentedthe history of thecity’ s infrastructure,including the subway system, roads,bridges, andtransportation networks. Lost arethe records of the 30-year historyof theLower ManhattanCultural Council. Lost arematerials excavated from the 18th-centuryAfrican Burial Ground and some 850,000 19th-century objects excavatedin the Five Pointsarea, together with the documentation and records associatedwith them. Lost arethe art collections and records ofsome 500 organizations, rms, andagencies that were located in the W orldT rade Center. Nearby landmarkbuildings, among the oldest in continuous use in Manhattan, andtheir contents were also destroyed. Lost arethe archives of theHelen Keller InternationalFoundation and ancient relics inthe Church of St.Nicholas (Har- graves 2002).Miraculously,inthemonths that followed the attack, some materials wererecovered from thedebris, includingabout 100,000 negativesfrom thePort Authorityarchive and some materials from theAfrican Burial Ground. Museums below 14thStreet found themselves in the frozen zone, which thawed instages over the course of severalweeks. Manyof themassisted withthe relief effort, includingthe National Museum of theAmerican Indian, the Lower East Side TenementMuseum, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage,whose grounds werea stagingarea for therelief effort. 5 Oncethey reopened, attendancewas down.Many staff members werelaid off andhours were reduced. Somemuseums offered free admissionand special programson designated days. Art museums functionedas serene spaces of beauty,wherevisitors could experience amoment ofpeace andhope in the face of trauma.Within three weeks, someof themuse- ums nearestto Ground Zero had reopened, whichwas an achievement in itself. But, 9/11 nowprovided aninexorable—anduncontrollable—contextfor every- thingthey and other museums inthe city had been planningbefore 9/11. TheMuseum of theCity of New York delayedthe opening of itsexhibition onArabAmericans by six monthsand closed iton 11 September 2002. An online gallery,featuringimages brought by people tothe museum after the exhibition opened on 7 March 2002,includesa photographof amemorialto Arab Ameri- canswho died inthe W orldT rade Centerattack (see Museumof theCity of New York 2002).TheQueens Museum of Art,home of the Panoramaof theCity of New York, thelargest architectural scale model in the world, focused aspotlighton the sectionof themodel where the W orldT rade Centeris locatedand tied a red, white,and blue ribbon aroundthe miniature towers. New York Citymuseums feela special responsibilityto deal with the disaster andits aftermath now and for thefuture. Besides delayingor revising exhibitions, some,like the New-Y ork HistoricalSociety ,alsocreated new ones such as Miss- ing:Streetscape of aCityin Mourning ,whichfeatured actual memorials, as wellas Kodak Moments 25

10. Panoramaof theCity of New York, updated to 1993,QueensMuseum of Art. After 9/11, the twin towers,still standing, were tiedwith amourningribbon andspotlighted. This pano- rama,the largest architectural scale modelin the world, was originallycom- missionedby RobertMoses for the 1964 New York World’s Fair ( 13 October 2001).(Photoby Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett)

documentationof themany shrines that had sprung up allover the city .Theex- hibition,based onthe work ofMarthaCooper, who has been photographingver- nacularNew York for some 30 years,was organized by CityLore: New York Centerfor UrbanFolk Cultureat theNew-Y ork HistoricalSociety . Missing be- camea memorialin its own right, as did theexhibition, in anadjoininggallery , onthe history of theW orldT rade Centercreated by theSkyscraper Museumbe- fore 9/11. TheNational Museum of theAmerican Indian opened BoomingOut: Mohawk Ironworkers BuildNew York on 26 April 2002.Theexhibition of 67 photographs honorsMohawk “ skywalkers”for theirlegendary skill in working on highsteel. 6 Theshow focuses ontwo Mohawk communities, the Akwesasne, whose reserva- tionsare in upstate New York, Ontario,and Quebec, andthe Kahnawake, whose reservationis inQuebec. Sixgenerations of Mohawkironworkers have helped to createManhattan’ s skyline,including the W orldT rade Centerand the Empire StateBuilding. According to Doug Cuthand, who belongs to theLittle Pine First Nationin Saskatchewan, “ Therewere about 100 Mohawksteel workers from the famousIron W orkers Local 440 from Akwesasneat work inNew York andNew Jersey atthe time of theattack.” The wing of the rstplane barely missed the craneof onecrew thatwas “ working 50 oorsup about 10 blocks from theW orld Trade Centre[...].” After 9/11 Cuthandwrote in his web site:

Local 440 isnowrecruiting to send ateamof 30 workers withspecial train- ingin hazardous materials to jointhe search in New York andrelieve the stressed workers. Someof theworkers whowere in New York atthe time havealready joined the dangeroussearch for survivors. (Cuthandn.d.) 7

Usingtheir construction knowledge and skills, they helped “todismantle what their elders hadhelped tobuild,” an experiencecaptured ona radiodocumentary that airedon National Public Radioon 1 July 2002 (York, Nelson,and Silva 2002). Rightafter the attack, Mohawk steelworkers also went to theNational Museum 26 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett oftheAmerican Indian, which is justblocks from theW orldT rade Center,to talk withthe staff andoffer assistance. Threeweeks after 9/11,theweb siteof theMuseum of Jewish Heritage:A Liv- ingMemorial to the Holocaust, which is locatedon theedge ofBatteryPark, announced:“ Themuseum is open.”Not when themuseum is open,but that it is open.I visited thismuseum in November 2001 to see Scream theT ruth at theW orld : EmanuelRingelblum and the Hidden Archive ofthe W arsaw Ghetto .Thismaterial is overwhelmingunder the best of circumstances.In the wake of 9/11, it takes on added signicance. Oynegshabes ,astheHidden Archivewas called, dramatizes the importanceof documentingthe moment as itis beinglived, andwith the knowledge thatthe present is alreadyhistoric. Ringelblum and his team were deter- mined thatthe record of whatthey experienced wouldsurvive, evenif theydid not.While the two situations are by nomeanscomparable, they both reveal the roleof history’s ordinaryactors in creating the historical record evenas theyare livingit. From thathistorical record, we getthe mundane, everyday aspects of ex- traordinarytimes. W elearnnot only what happened butalso how it was experienced andunderstood. Among the most touching artifacts in the Ringelblum exhibitionare a humbleand ephemeral theatre ticket, a rationcard for potatoes, instructionsin Yiddish for howto prepare frozenpotatoes, and a labellisting the tenantsin a sharedapartment with the number of ringsfor each—ringonce for Lurie,twice for Rotsztajn,and soon. This one small artifact encapsulated the se- vere overcrowdingin theghetto, where an averageof ninepeople lived inasingle room.So too do themany artifacts associated with the disaster of 9/11. Newsweek photographerBill Biggart died whilephotographing the attack. Although all his clothing,belongings, three cameras, and seven rollsof exposed lmwerefound, themost vivid indication“ thathe’ d been atthescene ofoneof theworld’ s great conagrations was a burned edge onhispress card”(Adler 2001).

Collectingthe Present Asthequarantined area of GroundZero got smaller, the event got bigger. The epicentermay have been off limits,but the event was —andstill is —everywhere. Itis ambient.The disaster suffuses thelife space. Smoke anddust, carried by the wind, coatedthe surfaces of thecity .New York worethe disaster like a garment. Webreathedthat dust andinhaled particles of thedead that oatedin the air. For W.RichardW est,Jr., director of theNational Museum of theAmerican Indian, whosestaff of 50 evacuatedtheir of ces astheT owerswere collapsing, “ Essen- tially,therewas a mass humancremation, and that is partof thetwo inches of dust that’s onthe ground and every surface” (in Harjo 2001). Documentationhas the task of goingeverywhere to capture everything —an impossible task.Given the sheer volume of imagesand words, the“ map”(in this case,documentation) threatens to become theterritory .Digitalphotographs, viewableon thespot, occupy thesame moment and place as theevent they record. Theybecome partof theevent in the very moment of theircreation. The sheervolume of testimonyand images in the months that followed make the documentationseem asifitwere coterminous with the disaster. Documentation anticipatesa futurelooking back. Itattempts to secure anephemeralexperience ofadurablesite for futurerecall. Notonly photography ,butalso archiving, is beingundertaken by amateursand professionalsalike. Within six months of theattack, eBay ,theworld’ s largeston- lineauction, was posting a 9/11 multimediaarchive on CD-ROM that includes emergencyradio calls for help.Declaring that “ ‘Youcannot understand the magnitudeof thedestruction unless you see itat ground zero,’ that’ s whateveryone whohas seen it has said,” the auction encourages potential buyers toidentify with Kodak Moments 27 survivors, witnesses,and rescue workers, aswellas with the victims. TheCD- ROMarchiveis billed asfollows:“ Thisarchive will give you the experience of havingbeen atgroundzero. It’ s anexperience youwill not forget” (eBay 2002). Theexperience inquestion is thatof thearchiveitself. This CD-ROM is butone of hundreds of objects associatedwith 9/11 eventsthat continue to be auctioned oneBay .Asthe anniversary of 9/11 approached, critic RichardGoldstein was not alonein feeling that “ Mourningin America never ends untilthe last commemo- rativecoin is sold.Closure is anotherword for nothingleft to show” (Goldstein 2002). Thepresent is generallythe preserve of theanthropologist, the ethnographer. Ithas been said thatfor thepresent to become history, 50 yearsmust pass. Buthis- tory’s famousactors, not least of whichare our own American presidents, work in thepresent to control their historical legacy . 9/11 hascreated the powerful sense that oneis awitnessto one’ s ownexperience and obligated to record itin some way . Thistakes historically speci c forms tailoredto the events themselves, whether Oynegshabes ,Ringelblum’s project, orthe Here Is New York installation . Both wereborn of theresponsibility for ensuringthat a historicalexperience willbe remembered. Bothraise the question of whatshould be collectedand preserved. From amuseologicalperspective, 9/11 is everywhere.How do youcollect a pres- entthat is alreadyhistorical? Withina matterof days,individuals and groups created web sitesto remember thevictims, record survivors’stories, determine whether legends and rumors are trueor false,offer messagesof consolation,make proposals for memorialsor re- buildingat the site of thedisaster, gather images, and invite artists to respond creatively.Recognizingthe power oftheInternet to document this historic moment,the Library ofCongress,in collaboration with the Internet Archive and webArchivist.org,began collecting web siteswithin hours of theattack and launched ,http://september 11.archive.org .,asitethat now contains 5 terabytesof data andis stillgrowing. Notonly images, documents, web sites,and artifacts, but also sound is being collected;audio les,some of themradio broadcasts, areonline. A dayafter the attack,the American Folklife Centerat theLibrary ofCongressimmediately or- ganizeda project tointerviewpeople abouttheir reaction to the trauma, as close tothe events as possible. Theywere inspired by theinterviews that Alan Lomax conducted in 1941 justafter the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Some folklorists feltunprepared tointerviewpeople abouttraumatic events so close to theiroc- currence.The material they gathered now forms thebasis for LookingBack: 9/11 Across America ,whichis described as“anacoustic exhibit presenting American voices inthe aftermath of attack.”Based on 300 hoursof recordings,this 37- minuteaudio exhibit is notonly available online, but also was distributed onCD- ROMtopublic radiostations and to groupswho were encouraged to play the CD-ROMin a quietspace asawayto remember andre ect on the events of 9/11.Theprogram was played in the Orientation Theatre of theJefferson Build- ingat the Library of Congress 11–14 September 2002 for theanniversary of 9/11 (Duke University 2002). ColumbiaUniversity’ s OralHistory Research Of ce is conductinginterviews across thecountry for Narrative Networks:The World Trade CenterT ragedy at three pointsin time: immediately ,inthewake ofthedisaster, six months later, and two yearsafter. This project is informed by twoideas: Stories are a wayto make sense of ourexperiences andresponses tothe catastrophe are extraordinarily diverse. Theinitiative for oralhistories is alsocoming from groupswith particular interests orprofessions, for example,the Bellevue Alumnae Center for NursingHistory is interviewingnurses who were involved in responding to 9/11. TheUniformed Fireghters Union, however, resisted theefforts of department 28 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett ofcials to create an oral history of theexperience of reghters at the disaster site because theysuspected thatthe interviews were a pretextfor acriminalinvesti- gation.Fire departmentof cials wanted to identifyprecisely whereeach man had died, notonly to betterunderstand why so many reghters perished, butso that mourningfamilies could know whathappened totheir loved ones.The interviews, whichwere to be conducted closeto thetime of theevent, while memories werefresh, included suchstraightforward and open-ended questions as, “Wherewere you that morning?” and “ Whatdid yousee?” (Baker 2001:B10). Althoughsuch questions are routine in disciplinary investigations and certainly notunusual in oral history interviews, the union did nottrust the interviewers. Whilesafety interviews are standard procedure, theunion objected tothe use of “shoeies,” slang for interviewersfrom theBureau of Investigationand T rials,and video cameras.The union instructed remento refuse tobe interviewed,except by qualied rechiefs andwithout video cameras(see Uniformed Fireghters As- sociation 2001a).The union was also concerned thatsuch interviews could be harmful,given the mental state of traumatized reghters and their overlooked need for crisis counseling.In addition, the union objected totheuse of SafetyOp- eratingBattalion chiefs asinterviewersbecause the redepartment closed their oneSafety Operating Battalion in order tofree thechiefs toconductinterviews thatwere strictly historical and not safety or fatal re-relatedinterviews (see Uni- formed Fireghters Association 2001b). Inthe context of internaland external investigationsinto what went wrong with the emergency response, “theFire De- partmentand the city’ s Law Departmenthave taken the positionthat oral history interviewsof reghters about the events of Sept. 11 aresecret documentsthat cannever be disclosed tothe public” (Dwyer andFlynn 2002:1).Theline be- tweenoral history interview and inquiry has been blurred. Nonetheless,many reghters have agreed to be interviewed,some interviews have been released, and FirehouseMagazine hasrun stories of reghters who worked atGroundZero. Fireghters generally avoid the limelight and some did notwant to be celebrated asheroes,particularly when so many of theirbrothers perished whilethey survived. If anything,the adulation made thegrief harderto bear (Luo 2002). Moreover,internal investigations and aggressive reporting by the New York Times revealthat many reghters died needlessly.Theywould have escaped ifnotfor failuresof communication,command, and control, which raise issues ofaccount- ability.Notonly did theirradio system fail to work properly butalso it was not linked tothepolice radiosystem, which warned police ofcers toevacuate. Most ofthemescaped. Some reghters wrote their social security numbers ontheir forearms withmarker, apoignantsign of whatthey anticipated as they entered the burningtowers. With as manyas 20 services aday,theUniformed Fireghters Associationstressed theimportance of participation,given that “ we havemultiple services everyday that make largeshowings virtually impossible” ( 2001 c). The SonicMemorial Project, establishedby theproducers of theNPR series Lost andFound Sound ,startedcollecting audio artifacts right after the attacks, with the goalof preserving “soundthat captures the life and spirit oftheW orldT radeCen- ter’s three-decadehistory as well as sound related to the events of September 11, 2001.”Keenlyaware of thefragile and ephemeral nature of these“ accidentaldoc- umentaries,”which tend to be erased orlost,they continue to solicit“ voicemail messages,dictation tapes, corporate videos, touristvideos, oralhistories, recorded business transactions,recordings of concertsand events in the Plaza, and video e-mailssent from theWTC ObservationDeck” (Corporation for Public Broad- casting 2002).Verizon,the New York arealocal phone company ,suspended its policyof automaticallydeleting old voice mailgreetings and messages, so that thoserecorded onthe morning of 9/11 couldbe saved tocassette. They were not onlyof evidentiaryvalue, but also were treasured mementos for thebereaved fam- Kodak Moments 29

11.Writingin duston a re truck nearGround Zero (13 September 2001). (Photo q Martha Cooper) ilies(George 2001).Thecockpit recordingsfrom thedoomed planesare also sonic artifacts,even if theycannot be made public. Someof thefamilies of thosewho perished inthe plane that crashed intoa eld inPhiladelphiawere brought to- getherin a closed roomto listen to the cockpit recording,with the understanding thatthey would not reveal its contents. The SonicMemorial Project hasnow amassed:

tapesof weddings atopthe W orldT rade Center,recordings of thebuildings’ elevatorsand revolvingdoors, homevideos made by alawyerin his 42nd oorof ce, sounds oftheHudson riverfront, recordings of latenight Span- ishradio drifting through the halls as Latino workers cleanthe ofces, an 30 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett interviewwith the piano player at Windows ontheW orldsharing his rec- ollections,video e-mailgreetings that tourists sent from thekiosks onthe 110thoor,voicemail messages from people whoworked intheW orld Trade Center.(Sonic Memorial Project 2002)

Materialswere collected in avarietyof ways,including a voice mailboxthat NPR created,as wellas from talkradio, for example,“ Onthe Line,” Brian Lehrer’ s pro- gramon WNYC. Samplesfrom thecollection are now online and continue to provide thebasis for radioprograms, including “ TheBuilding Stewardesses,” “WalkingHigh Steel,” “Radio Row: The Neighborhood before theW orldT rade Center,”“Stories of Love &Marriageatop the W orldT radeCenter,” and many othersthat were planned for theanniversary of 9/11 (Everhart 2002). Taking a different approach,“ OntheEdge of GroundZero,” a Soundprintradio documentary,recorded 24 hoursalong the perimeter of GroundZero from 7:00 a.m. on 12 December to 7:00 a.m. on 13 December. Theweb siteis organizedas a timeline,with clocked images,journal entries, and audio les(Abumrad 2002). Justas there is anxietyabout taking photographs and ockingto the disaster site—thisbehavior has been compared toambulance chasing and rubbernecking atcarcrashes —thereis uneasinessabout collecting the remains of adisasterbefore thebody is cold. Theseissues havebeen raised withrespect to Missing:Last Seen at theW orldT rade Center,September 11, 2001, anexhibitionfeaturing between 175 and 210 iers of missingpersons thathas been travelingaround the United States ( Jones 2002).Anestimated 500 to 700 familiescreated and posted about 100,000 iers.Rumors that victims werelying unconscious and unidenti ed inhospitals orwanderingaround in a daze nearthe disaster site prompted someto post as many as 500 or even 1,000 copies of asingle ier.Louis Nevaer collectedand saved morethan 400 different posters. He wasassisted by theNational Guardsmen attheArmory ,whoseouter walls were covered with iers.The Armory housed theFamily Assistance Center. A writer,editor, and activist,Nevaer received some nancialsupport for theexhibition from theMesoamerica Foundation, a Mexi- cannonpro t organizationfor whichhe worked.

12.Papers fromthe W orld Trade Centerwere carried by gusts ofwinds as far as Brooklyn.They were collectedand incorporated into spontaneousmemorials like thisone, a memorialwall created by thelegendary grafti artist Chicoon Ave- nue A at 14th Street in Lower Manhattan( 14 Sep- tember 2001). (Photo by Barbara Kirshenblatt- Gimblett) Kodak Moments 31 Reportingon the exhibition at the Artists’ Museum in W ashington,DC, which coincided withthe six-month anniversary of 9/11,GaranceFranke-Ruta was dis- turbed by whatshe characterized as a “jarring,tasteless presentation of someof September 11’smostpowerful fragments” (Franke-Ruta 2002).Whileshe ad- mired Nevaer’s intentions—toprovide anopportunity for thepeople outside New York toknow ,mourn,and honor those who died —shequestioned the way theexhibition was installed. First, she objected totheaestheticization of the iers: onlythe colored ones were shown (the black-and-white ones were considered less compelling)and the iers wereframed. Second,such material deserved amore prestigiousvenue than the “ middlebrow”Artists’ Museum. Third, “ theshow’ s March 8 openingstruck anoffensively irreverent tone: Gallery-goers wandered amidstthe posters drinkingglasses of chardonnaywhile live jazz music thrummed inthe background from aband playingin anothergallery down the hall” (Franke- Ruta 2002).8 Havingbeen inNew York whenthe iers covered thewalls of thecity ,Franke- Rutawas painfully aware of theinadequacy of thegallery installation, even thoughit did includephotographs of the iers insitu and condolence books. Whatthis exhibition missed wasattention to what Jan Ramirez, director of the New-York HistoricalSociety ,called“ athresholdexperience from adesignper- spective,”which the Society’ s Missing:Streetscape of a Cityin Mourning sought to address. Somefamilies “ weren’t readyto have their loved oneshistoricized so quickly,”accordingto Ramirez(in Franke-Ruta 2002).Oneway that the New- York HistoricalSociety’ s Missing exhibitionaddressed thisproblem wasto display photographsof posters andmemorials in context, and to bring elements from shrines—andin some cases theshrine itself, with missing iers stillattached— intothe gallery .Therewere refreshments at the opening, but they were served in ahallway,notin the galleries themselves. As wasthe case withthe HereIs New York andExit Art installations, the photographs were deliberately not framed. Asa re- sult,the installation felt more like the street than an artgallery,inkeeping withits characteras a memorialin its own right. As Maya Lin noted,any effort to re-create“ themagic of themakeshift” would produce “atotallydifferent experience,”because thepower of theseself-organizing memorial efforts liesin the “spontaneityof raw,pure emotion”(Lin 2002). Thereis anunderstandablediscomfort abouttaking historical distance in the heatof themoment: W aitfor historicaldistance, or seize themoment? As cam- eramanEvan Fairbanks reected, “thisevent just became instanthistory” (in Mandell 2001:1).Thatis howit was experienced. Anarrestedmoment. How then todeal with that experience inan historicallyresponsible way?The New-Y ork HistoricalSociety and theMunicipal Art Societytook a nimbleapproach in their efforts tocapture the moment and were alreadypreparing exhibitions within weeks of theevent. As KennethJackson, president of theNew-Y ork Historical Society,remarked: “Mygut instinct was that this is themost important event in New York Cityhistory ,andthat it was right in front of myface” (in Collins 2002:A14).

A Year Later Someinstitutions, like the Museum of theCity of New York, havetaken a slow approachto creating exhibitions that deal with the disaster, preferring moredis- tancefrom theevents and a moreselective approach to thecollection of iconic artifactsfor tellingthe story .Notsurprisingly ,themuseum commissioned Ralph Appelbaum,who is famousfor hisstorytelling approach to museums, to design theexhibitions in what were tobe itsnew quarters in the T weed Courthouse downtown.Mayor Bloomberg has nixed that plan. This and other museums have 32 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett been collectingsuch iconic objects asa crushed re truck, “apairof muddy boots,respirators and masks, dust from thewindowsills of BatteryPark City,eventhe clothesworn by MayorGiuliani,” and a twistedvene- tianblind (Pollock 2001:56). TheMuseum of theCity of New York haseven added the“ Wallof Prayer”to its collection.This spontaneous assemblage of imagesand messageson a constructionsite fence waslocated at one of theentrances to Bellevue Hospital. This kind of col- lectingis morelike the time capsule —itemsfrom the presentin anticipationof thefuture —thanan archeo- logicalrecord, thougharcheologists were vital to the forensic effort whileGround Zero remained a crime scene;that evidence willbecome partof thehistorical record aswell. TheNew York Fire Museumcollected stories and photographsin preparation for anexhibition in Sep- tember 2002.Theyfocused onstories and photographs thatdocument both the rescue effort andthe many me- morialsto reghters who perished tryingto save others. TheSmithsonian Institution has used thetime betweenthe attack and its rstanniversary to solicit materialfor September 11:BearingWitness to History , an exhibitionthat is occupying 5,000 squarefeet of the 13. & 14.Recoveredbrief- NationalMuseum of AmericanHistory from 11 Sep- case andcurator’ s notes.Ac- tember 2002 to 11 January 2003.Thisexhibition features amateur and professional cording tothecurator’ s photographs,about 50 artifactsthat include everything from fragmentsof the notes,this briefcase was re- WorldT rade Centerto Mayor Giuliani’ s baseballcap andcell phone, a video coveredfrom the W orld montageof newscoverage, the stories of individualwitnesses, and an areafor vis- Trade Centerwreckage and itorsto record theirown stories in avarietyof formats.The exhibition is likea returnedto Lisa Leer ,an memorialin character. A special preview of thiswas organized for thefamilies of AonRisk Services employee thosewho perished, withoutany media present. 9 who escaped.As David Leadingup totheopening on 11 September 2002,theproject posted materials Shayt (September 11 Col- inthe online September 11 Digital Archive ,whichsolicits responses andmakes them lectingCurator ,Divisionof availableonline. 10 Of special interestis thecollection of 2,000 weblogs,or blogs, CulturalHistory ,National manyof themcreated just after the attack. 11 Museumof AmericanHis- Blogs,which often feature personal narratives of dailylife and theexpression of tory)explained, it is“ not individualexperience andfeeling,have proven tobe apowerfulmedium for deal- thesort ofthingwe would ingwith the collective trauma of 9/11 andhave attracted witnesses and survivors collect unlessit had some aswellas “ warbloggers.” Blogs, a self-organizingphenomenon, are a prime form extraordinary,iridescent ofmicromedia,although corporations are starting to createthem as well. While story.” (,http://american different from suchprojects asExit Art’ s Reactions and HereIs NewY ork ,blogsshare history.si.edu/september 11/ theirparticipatory and grassroots qualities and some of theimmediacy of photog- collection/record.asp? raphy(Blood 2000).12 AsSteven Levy notes,“ Theblog format lends itself to a new ID4 41.) kind ofreporting:on-the-spot recording of events,instantly beamed tothe Net.” Connectedto the Internet, bloggers can take notes at conferences andupload them immediatelyso that others can follow the proceedings “likefans at baseballgames listeningto play-by-playon transistorradios” (Levy 2002). Withso many people takingtheir own pictures andcreating their own web sites,and in light of highlysuccessful projects like HereIs NewY ork ,whichquickly metthe need for acollectiveresponse, eventhe largest museums are making the curatorialprocess itselfmore inclusive. Some of themare trying to involve virtu- allyall who are willing to telltheir stories, contribute their photographs, or other- wise assistin the effort torecord andre ect on what happened. Thereare, however, Kodak Moments 33

differences intone, set by therules of engagement.The request for materialgen- erallyincludes instructions not to send unsolicitedmaterial, but rather to contact themuseum rst,and emphasizes greatercuratorial control over what messages willbe posted onlineand what materials will be included inthe exhibition. Exit Art,in contrast, accepted andexhibited everything that came in. TheAmerican Association of Museums andthe Institute of Museumand Li- braryServices issued acallto action, “ CelebrateAmerica’ s Freedoms: ADayof Remembrance,”with suggestions for howmuseums mightcommemorate 9/11 (AmericanAssociation of Museums 2002).Museums wereencouraged to work closelywith their local communities in planning events. Many museums developed special exhibitionsand programs and honored local rescue workers; hosted concerts,ceremonies, and dialogues;and provided opportunitiesfor visitorsto re- ectupon and express theirthoughts and feelingsin journals,murals, and albums. Somecreated collective memorials in such forms asquilts,paper cranes,time cap- sules,and oraldisplays. Museums wereencouraged to extendtheir hours and manyoffered free admissionto these commemorative events. Manymuseums commemorated the occasion with patriotic displays andaf r- 34 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett mationsof suchAmerican values as freedom, tolerance,and the willingness to die for one’s country.TheBarona Cultural Center and Museum, a tribalmuseum in Lakeside, California,honored their Native American veterans, ve of whomare PurpleHeart recipients. The Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania presented Americansby Choice:Photographs ofArab Americansin New York ,derived from the largerexhibition on this subject attheMuseum of theCity of New York; thepub- licprograms that accompanied thisexhibition explored ArabAmerican responses to 9/11.Manymuseums have developed special ceremonies,ranging from apa- radeof retrucks tosound their sirens at theclose of theceremonies(Cincinnati MuseumCenter) to theringing of theAmericanFreedom Bellevery hour (Char- lotteMuseum of History).Gilcrease Museum in T ulsa,Oklahoma, which dis- playedhandwritten documents, including letters from ThomasJefferson anda signedcopy of theDeclaration of Independence, asked visitorsto record theirre- sponses to 9/11 inlonghand on special heavypaper. Theresponses willbe bound intocloth books andenter the museum’ s collection.Focusing on thethemes of freedom andwhat it means to be anAmerican, several museums, particularly thosedevoted toAmerican history ,havedeveloped programsthat include the nationalanthem, pledge ofallegiance,displays of ags,and honoring of warveter- ans.The Sam Rayburn Museum in Bonham, T exas,sponsored a“PatrioticWin- dow Dressing Contest”(American Association of Museums 2002).

Jewish Resonancesand Responses Whilethe attacks on 9/11 targetedthe United States rather than any particular group,those events were experienced differentlyin variouscommunities. In what ways is 9/11 alsoa Jewish storyand who will tell that story? Certainly ,therewere Jewish victims, butthey were not singled out as Jews. Rather,the diversity ofthe victims isoneof thehallmarks of theevent, as was the fusing of “Americaniden- tityand American Jewish identity,”inthe words ofAlanDershowitz, which appeared inthe 14 September editionof the Forward (in Eden 2001). Missingnotices andmemorials to Jews whodied inthe attacks can be found alongsidethose of everyoneelse. Given their long history of respondingto violencethat was targeted specically at Jews, areJewish museumsequipped torespond toan event like this—aneventthat had its Jewish victims, butdid notsingle them out for being Jewish? Whois documentingJewish experiences andresponses tothe events of 9/11?Whois collectingmaterial, conducting interviews, and planning exhibi- tionsthat will bring the perspective of Jewish museums tothis event? The New York Times reported onstudents from SternCollege for Womenwho satshifts guardingthe dead outsidethe New York Medical Examiner’s Ofce, wherea morgue,renamed Memorial Park, had been improvised inrefrigerated trucks thatparked withina largetent. The Forward reported ontherole of the HatzolahOrthodox volunteer ambulance corps inspeeding injuredrescue workers toNew York UniversityHospital; the dilemma of celebratingjoyous holidays, likeSimchat T orah,in the midst oftragedy;and lessons learned from Holocaust survivors about“ survivor guilt,”collective mourning, and pervasive sense of vulnerability. Jewish organizationsissued guidelinesand curricula to assistJews inresponding tothetragedy .Thesedocuments suggested appropriate prayers (Kaddish, ElMalei Rakhamim),rituals (lighting a memorialcandle), activities (donating blood, visitingthe sick, givingcharity ,recitingand studying sacred texts),and psychological advice (Jewish EducationCenter of Cleveland 2001).13 Jewish communalevents became memorialservices andthe question arose of howto conduct synagogue services undersuch circumstances. Should the liturgy be leftalone or shouldthe congregationargue with it? Those who attended services found themselves“ peo- Kodak Moments 35 ple spotting”to determine who was missing. Empty pews werea bad sign(Coo- per 2002).14 Thereare even Jewish 9/11 artifacts—or,at least, artifacts that have a special resonanceafter 9/11:TheW orkmen’s CircleBookstore is offeringT -shirtswith thefamiliar “ ILove New York”slogan emblazoned on them in Yiddish. Prots of thesales will go tofunds providing relieffor the 9/11 disaster.Umbrellas with theYiddish sloganare also available. The Orthodox community has produced its ownvideo andbook. 15 Jews alsoexpressed feelingsof vulnerability:not only was America under attack,but also Jews were beingblamed. Muslimextremists identi ed Jews with New York Cityand with American capitalism. 16 Americanswere blaming Jews for theclose ties between the United States and Israel. According to a rumor thatcirculated shortly after the attacks, Jews workingin the W orldT rade Center hadreceived phonecalls from Israelwarning them not to go to work on 9/11 (Snopes.com 2001).Israelisnoted that now Jews inthe United States would know whatit is liketo live with terrorism on their front steps; Americansknow ter- rorismfrom movies,in contrast with the Israeli reality ,accordingto DoronRo- senblum,commentator for theliberal Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz (2001). Jewish communalleaders anticipated that the terrorist attacks would make Americansre- alizewhat Israelis face ona dailybasis (Eden 2001).Perhaps theUnited States and itsallies would nallyrealize that terrorism is notjust Israel’ s problem. Jews, like manyother Americans, have expressed graveconcerns over the erosion of civil libertiesand anti-immigrant sentiment in the name of nationalsecurity . TheMuseumof Jewish History:A LivingMemorial of theHolocaust prepared aspecial exhibitionfor theanniversary of 9/11, entitled Yahrzeit:September 11 Ob- served,inkeeping withthe Jewish traditionto observe theanniversary of adeath. Thismuseum is notonly located a few blocks from GroundZero, but also on a landll created from theearth that was dug out to create the foundation for the WorldT rade Center.In April 2002 curatorJill V exlerput out a callfor objects or documentsassociated with 9/11 andthe days immediatelyfollowing, as wellas attemptsto memorialize the missing or dead; responses insynagogues, churches, andmosques, schoolsand businesses; andvolunteer efforts (Vexler 2002).

MirroringEvil TheJewish Museumin New York delayedthe opening of itscontroversial exhibition Mirroring Evil:Nazi Imagery,RecentArt from fall 2001 to 17 March–30 June 2002.Five yearsin the making and controversial under any circumstances, theexhibition now found itselfin a contextit could never have anticipated. Shortlyafter the attacks, President Bush declared inBiblicaltones, “ Wearein a conict between good and evil, and America will call evil by itsname” — with God ontheside ofgood.Putting the world onnotice, he declared thatyou are eitherwith us oragainstus. He referred tothiswar as a“Crusade”and to thewar inAfghanistan as “ OperationIn nite Justice,” to the protest of Muslims,who insisted thatonly God couldmete out in nite justice, after which the name was changedto “ OperationEnduring Freedom.” Osama bin Laden became “theevil one.”Provoking protests at home and abroad, Bush identi ed an“axisof evil,” whichincluded Iraq,Iran, and North Korea, and was later expanded toinclude Cuba,Libya, and Syria. Suchstatements, with allusions to Satanand Armageddon, applied simple di- chotomiesto complex situationsand served toforeclose public debate.When PresidentBush asked, “Whydo theyhate us?” he wasnot calling for thekind of self-scrutinyenvisioned by MirroringEvil .TheJewish Museumintended Mirroring Evil asa“cautionarytale,” a warningabout the potential for evilin all of usandin 36 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett ourown society (and not as a Holocaustmemorial). The exhibition featured the work of 13 contemporaryartists under the age of 50 whomake conceptualand installationart and work invariousmedia, including photography ,digitalmedia, lm,and sculpture. Four of themare Jewish. The others are Polish, German, Aus- trian,English, Scottish, and French. All the works intheexhibition use Nazi imagery,withthe exception of AlanSchechner’ s Bar Codeto Concentration Camp Morph and Self-Portrait at Buchenwald:It’ s theReal Thing ,bothof themdigital works. Inthe latter image, the artist has insertedhimself into the famous Margaret Bourke-Whitephotograph of prisoners intheir barracks afterthe American lib- erationof Buchenwaldin 1945.Theartist, who wears a striped uniformand holds ared canof DietCoke, is standingamid inmates. Except for Schechner,the artists in theexhibition do notfocus onthe Holo- caustin their work. TheHolocaust is butone of severalthemes in larger projects dealingwith mass culture,fashion, consumption, capitalism, and conformism. Theseartists create works thatactively engage and unsettle the viewer. Zbigniew Libera, whocreated the LegoConcentration Camp set,is interestedin themoral provocationof surrealobjects. RoeeRosen’ s Liveand Die as Eva Braun:Hitler’ s Mistress,in theBerlin Bunker and Beyond —AnIllustrated Proposalfor aVirtual-Reality Scenario,Not to be Realized ,asks theviewer toidentify with Eva Braun as she and Hitlerhave their last sexual encounter, recounted in sweaty detail, just before Hit- lerkills her and commits suicide. Oneinspiration for theexhibition’ s interpretiveframework wasSusan Sontag’ s famous 1975 essay“ FascinatingFacism,” which connected the appeal of fascist designin the past, as seen in everything from posters touniforms,to the sexualizing of fascist trappingstoday ([ 1975] 1980).17 Someof theartists and interpretive text panelsin theexhibition highlighted similarities between advertising and propa- gandaas instrumentsfor theengineering of consent,the dangers of conformism, andthe decadence of consumption. Obsession,avideo by Maciej Toporowicz, tookas itspoint of departureaf nities between fascist aesthetics,such as the cult ofbeautyand idealization of thebody ,andcontemporary preoccupations with brands, fashion,and physical perfection as exempli ed inCalvin Klein advertise- ments.After the 9/11 attackon the symbol of world nance,such critiques of capitalismseemed eithertrivial or too close to theknuckle, if moregermane than ever,given that one answer to thequestion “ Whydo theyhate us?” is thatmass mediaand consumer society erode Islamicvalues by promotingalcohol and drugs, promiscuity,materialism,and immorality . Even before 9/11,therewere concerns that equating the evils of theHolocaust withthe evils of capitalismtrivialized and demeaned theHolocaust, while some oftheartists insisted that Holocaust indoctrination and mass mediahad already donethe job. Someargued that the artists and the exhibition glamorized Nazis or thatthe identi catory exercise wouldmake theNazis “understandable”and viewers sympathetic.Others expressed concernthat the Holocaustwas off limitswhen itcomes toctive libertiesand playful speculation, even for art(see Lang 2000; Langer 1998). MirroringEvil createda contextfor theseworks, whichwere brought together because theyshared an irreverent approach to Holocaustrepresentation, which is thoughtto indicate a shiftin sensibility and iconography associated with a younger generation.This generation is said toknow theHolocaust largely through mass mediaand to have become unresponsiveto Holocaustmemorials, museums, and curriculacreated by earliergenerations. In contrast with most Holocaust art, whichfocuses onvictims andtheir experience, this work wasselected for itsuse ofNaziimagery ,itselfa kind of taboo,and the staging of scenariosthat encourage theviewer toidentify with the perpetrators as awayof discovering theirown ca- pacityfor evilor the “ littleNazi within us” (Grossman 1999).18 Kodak Moments 37 However,right after 9/11,howcould this exhibition ask visitorsto speculate abouttheir own potential for evil,when they had just been traumatizedby adev- astatingattack? A speculativeexercise hadbeen upstagedby anactualevent. Visi- torswould be comingto the exhibition with a profound senseof theirown vulnerability.Theiroverwhelming sense of victimhoodwas already being mobi- lized tostrengthen patriotic support for thewar on terrorism, understood as awar onevil. It was no more possible toexpect Americansto identifywith terrorists in order todiscover theirown potential for evil,than for Holocaustsurvivors to identifywith their victimizers inorder to nd“thelittle Nazi within us.” In the wake of 9/11,Holocaustsurvivors reported ashbacks: “Thisis acatastrophewith re,a catastrophewith ash, a catastrophewith missing people, ofbodies inciner- atedwithout recovery .Thisis somethingwe wentthrough with six million” (Rabbi TzviH. Weinrebquoted in Wakin 2001:B9).Asanothersurvivor whoob- jected tothe exhibition commented, “ If Iwerea whale,[...] wouldI wantto see ashowmade ofscrimshaw?”(Merken 2002).Whilethis comparison captures a prevalentmisapprehension of whatthe exhibition was about, it does indexobjec- tionsto theinstrumentalization of theHolocaust and the limits of theHolocaust asan object lesson. Withina shorttime, the Israeli-Palestinian con ict escalated, Ariel Sharon cited America’s waron terrorism as his mandate for Israel’s militaryresponses tothe suicide bombings, andPresident Bush’ s “crisp”message about good and evil, whichhad prevailed inAmerican policy on Afghanistan, failed in what came to be seenas the gray area of Middle Eastpolicy .Israelisand Palestinians called each otherNazis, Palestinianscompared theirsituation to Auschwitzand Buchenwald, andfavorable American foreign policy on Israel was attributed, at least in part, to theAmerican Jewish electorate(see Hoffman andal-Mansour 2002).19 This subject wasalso too volatile as abasis for identicatory exercises thatwould require eachside tosee themselvesin themirror of theother in order toenvisionthem- selves aspotential victimizers orastheevil the other sees. 20 Theexhibition became alightningrod for polarizeddebate evenbefore it

15. Axe Throw, a French computergame on theInter- net,lets you “ Play with themlike they play with you!”An “Evil”that can- notbe located and captured isfueling a shadow war that usesvoodoo violence to do toan elusive enemy what thewar onthe ground could not. (,http://www. uzinagaz.com .) 38 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett opened. Whilethe exhibition had been delayedby aboutsix months, the catalogue appeared ontimeand provoked considerableopposition to the project. The museumheld rminthe face ofdemands thatthe ex- hibitionbe canceledand refused toremovethe most offensive works. Atthe same time, the museum took painsto contextualize the works of artand the exhibi- tionitself in a varietyof ways,including intensive pub- licprog ramsorganized incoll aborationwiththe AnimatingDemocracy Initiative. 21 Themuseum placed warninglabels in the exhibition, alerting visitors that someHolocaust survivors wereoffended by thework, moved themost provocative works behind abarrierso thatvisitors would have to seek themout, and provided aquick exitfrom theexhibition should visitors wish to leavewithout walking through the entire show .Atthe end of theexhibition, a video presented arangeof viewpointson theissues raised by theexhibition and a textpanel alluding to the attack on the W orldT rade Centerinvited visitors to thinkabout how this disaster wouldbe remembered inthe future. Visitors needed no reminder.They had already brought 9/11 with them 16.Imagininga rebuilt intothe galleries and left their thoughts in the visitors’ lower Manhattanhas book: “If it[is] OKtodepict ourselvesas a victim oftheHolocaust is italso OK promptednumerous satiric tobe avictim oftheW orldT rade Center...?( 3/31/2002).” reactions,from redesigned twintowers through which Finding aMoralCompass airplanescan ytoasky- lineof mosques, among the Thedisasteris notlimited to Ground Zero —tothe“ red zone,”or the“ trauma manyresponses to the zone”as itis alsocalled (Glanz and Lipton 2002:A1;see alsoRosenthal 2002)— speculation“ If theT aliban andthe six degrees ofseparationthat link those closest to the catastrophe to ev- wins...”Contributed by eryoneelse. An open-endedwar on terrorism has inspired asurgeof patriotism BetzabeJara Carretoto the andanti-immigrant sentiment in the name of nationalsecurity: Note the oppo- Spanish humorwebsite sitionof LynnCheney ,former headof theNational Endowment of theHuman- ,http://www.tonterias. itiesand the wife ofVice PresidentCheney ,tothepromotion of toleranceand com.. (,http:// multiculturalcurricula. What we need,she said, is anAmerica- rst curriculum tonterias.iespana.es/ thatwould ensure children knew moreabout America. Multicultural curricula tonterias/especial/ implied thatAmericans were at fault for notknowing more about Islam (W ABC torresgemelas/ 2001).Theidea of anationat war has licensed theerosion of civil liberties,al- nuevastorres.jpg .) though,as the “ waron terrorism”was being launched in Afghanistan, there were protests,and as the anniversary approached andtalk of invadingIraq escalated, somecommemorations of 9/11 calledfor peace. An“Evil”that cannot be locatedand captured is fuelinga shadowwar that uses weaponsof digitalmanipulation to paint the world Taliban—from therebuilding ofManhattanwith a skylineof mosques toT oys“ R”Us, includingT alibanBarbie andT ali-tubby.Thisis howthe world will look “ If theT alibanwin...,” a phrase thataccompanies many such images. Humor arrived belatedly,relativeto the speed withwhich gallows humor has followed other crises, butonce it did, voo- dooviolence on anelusiveenemy did whatthe war on theground could not. 22 Axe Throw,acomputergame, lets you “ Playwith them like they play with you!” (uzinagaz.com 2002).Humoruses weaponsof degradation.Those weapons draw from thescatological ( 200 rollsof toiletpaper bearingbin Laden’s portraitwere sentto the Pentagon in March and can now be purchased atGroundZero itself ), phallic,bestial, and homophobic imagination in order todehumanize, demonize, Kodak Moments 39 anddestroy the enemy .But,so too did ourunfortu- natelynamed Of ce of StrategicIn uence, which came underattack. By the end of February 2002,thedecision wasmade todisband it.Such images may circulate with awarninglabel: “ NOTE!Occasionally ,somePictures maybe Tasteless,T acky,anddenitely NOT Politically Correct!In most cases, that’s whatmakes themso funny . Do notproceed if youare easily offended” (Strange- Cosmos 2002). Theyform adigitaldime museumof hoaxand joke, atabloidof thereally weird andweirdly real.

Equivocations Thecatastrophe has produced aseries ofequivocal situations: Kodak momentor surrogatebody? Crimescene ortouristattraction? Missingperson noticeor obituary? Cheapsouvenir or involuntarymemento? “Tragedypro teering” or “aplaceto put your memory?” “Auctionterrorists” or “guardiansof memory?” Documentor memorial? Interviewor therapeutic encounter? Voyeurismor mourning? Thanotourismor pilgrimage? Above all,the problem posed by documentation, whetherthrough photographs or someother medium, is thepresumed detachmentassociated with these activ- 17.WipeOut T errorism, ities.23 When,where, and how should documentation of memorialsbe exhibited? anexample of voodoovio- Willthose images exceed theirdocumentary status to become livingmemorials lenceusing weapons of deg- intheir own right? Can the institutional context of themuseum or gallery accom- radation.T wo hundredrolls modatethe spontaneous memorial practices of visitors? oftoiletpaper bearing Bin Thequestion of amemorialarose within days of thedisaster and, while New Laden’s portraitwere sent York Cityhas many memorials commemorating other tragic events, such a me- tothe Pentagon in March morialas this is unprecedented andhas already been asubject of controversy. 2002 andcould be purchased Therehave been temporarymemorials, the most visible beingthe “ Tributein at GroundZero shortly Light.”Originally proposed withintwo weeks of thedisaster as the“ Phantom thereafter.( ,http:// Towers,”these beams oflightreached into the sky from 11 March to 13 April politicalhumor.about.com/ 2002,tomark thesix-month anniversary of theevent. Julian LaV erdiere,one of library/graphics/osama_tp. theartists involved in this collaborative project, commented,“ Thosetowers are jpg.) likeghost limbs, we canfeel them even though they’ re not there anymore” (My- odaand LaV erdiere 2001:80).Whatyou see inthosebeams oflightare the pul- verized towers—incandescentdust. When I lookedup intothe night sky ,Icould see airplanes yingthrough the columns of light.I triedto imaginewhat it was likefor people inthe planesto glideeffortlessly through their ghostly presence. Thereare no protocols for thissituation. Should people havebeen allowedto see thesite? Should they be permitted totakephotographs? During the rstfew monthsafter 9/11,theowner of NYC Toursrefused toorganize excursions whosesole destination was Ground Zero, but considered itimportant to stop at thedisaster site in the context of astandardcity tour (Saulny 2001:B1). While the city’s economydepends ontourismand those guresdropped precipitouslyafter 9/11,therewas reluctance to promote tourism that could be seenas pro ting 40 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett from thetragedy .Besides, manytourists who did come toNew York atthis time, whetheror notthey went to the site, were in no mood tospend moneyand have a good time. By December 2001,therestrictions were easing. Viewing platforms opened on 30 December. Toalleviatethe long lines and waiting, there were tickets,and even tickets wereeliminated as access tothe site was increased. Photographs were al- lowed.And, perhaps mosttelling of all,the language changed. Those visiting the sitewere no longer “ tourists.”They had become “pilgrims,”although the New York Times estimatesthat New York’s hottestnew attraction will draw 3.6 million visitors in 2002 (Blair 2002).Twoweeks before the 2002 anniversaryof 9/11, 2000 Harleybikers rode 262 miles,stopping at Somerset, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed, thePentagon, and Ground Zero (Rosenstock 2002).Nonetheless,there arecomplaints that Ground Zero, which is beingmanaged by thecity’ s Ofce of EmergencyManagement, not the New York CityConvention and Visitors Bu- reau,is becominganother stop onthe tourist itinerary ,completewith tasteless souvenirsand trophy snapshots. 24 TheW orldT rade Towersthemselves have entered thepantheon of world wonders, posthumously. Canthe memory palace of themuseum ever approximatethe memory palace, the muse´eimaginaire ,thatthe city itself has become?

Notes 1. Storytold by Cicero in De Oratore andretold in FrancesA. Yates, TheArt of Memory (1966: 1–2). 2. Thisessay began as aseriesof over 30 e-mails—inspired by the one that MarthaCooper sent meright afterthe attack —whichI transmitted duringthe days and months following 9/11. Each onewas titled “OurBeautiful Towers,R.I.P . 1973–2001”andcontained an image takenat thetime (orrelated to themoment when) the e-mail was transmitted. Ibeganwrit- ingduring the rst weeksafter the attack, in thepresent tense, and published the rst itera- tion ofthis essayas “ OurBeautiful Towers,”in Samtid& Museer (Museums& thePresent), 3–4 (2001),whichis publishedquarterly by Samdok, a networkof Swedish cultural history museumsthat collaborateon documenting contemporary life. Sincethen, the essay has evolved.I movedit into thepast tense and continued to updateit asthe anniversary of 9/11 approached.I wouldlike to thankMartha Cooper, Lorie Novak, Diana Taylor,Mariana Hirsch, BarbieZelizer, Jeffrey Shandler, Emily Socolov,LeshuT orchin, theMemory Matters project,and students in “MuseumTheatre” and “ Tourist Productions,”two courses that I taughtin theDepartment of PerformanceStudies at theTisch School of the Arts/ NYU, duringthe fall of 2001.Anearlierversion of this article appearedon-line in the Tactical Media Virtual Casebook: 9-11 and After, editedby Barbara Abrash and Faye Ginsburg (New Y ork University, 2002), ,http://www.nyu.edu/fas/projects/vcb/case_ 911/pdfs/kodak.pdf .. Unlessotherwise noted, all websites mentionedwere revisited on 18 October 2002 and were still current. 3. Theproject was initiated byGilles Peress, aphotographerwith MagnumPhotos whohas documentedthe massacres in Bosnia andRwanda, and Michael Shulin, awriterand one of theowners of thebuilding, with thehelp of Charles T raub,a photographerand chair ofthe MFAPhotography and Related Media program at Schoolof Visual Arts in Manhattan, and AliceRose George, a distinguishedcurator and photography editor for such magazines as Details, Granta, and Fortune. See ,http://www.hereisnewyork.org .. 4. Theinformation in this paragraphis takenfrom yershanded out at theexhibition. Seealso ,http://hereisnewyork.org/about/ .. 5. Theexperience of the Museum of Jewish Heritage is detailedin Spilka( 2002). 6. Whilethe exhibition focuses on theMohawk, skywalkers come from other Iroquois groups as well. 7. DougCuthand, who is aNative American lmmaker,reported on therole of theAkwa- sasne,about a thousandof whomwork on high-rise construction, in Column 363 on his BlueHills Productionsweb site (Cuthandn.d.). 8. Photographsof the installation at theHiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo,California ( 25 February–3 March 2002)showthe iers (orcopies of them) unframed and af xed haphaz- ardlyto thewalls with tape(City ofV allejo 2002). Kodak Moments 41

9.Thisannouncement appeared on the Familiesof September 11 web site, ,http://www.families ofseptember 11.org/events/eventdetail.asp?event_id 4 23.,whichoffers a comprehensive calendarof memorial events, including walks, masses, concerts, meetings, and receptions. Otheractivities listedon web sites fromaround the country include vigils, agraisings, tree plantings,interfaith services, discussions, tributes, processionalsand parades, and Native Americanblessings. 10. The September 11 Digital Archive is acollaborationbetween the Smithsonian Institution, the Museumof the City ofNew Y ork,New-Y orkHistorical Society,City Lore:New Y ork Centerfor Urban Folk Culture, the City University ofNewY ork’s AmericanSocial History Project, andGeorge Mason University’ s Centerfor History andNew Media ( 2002a). 11.Theirauthors are part writer, compiler,editor, curator, andpublisher. W eblogsvary widely; theymay combine elements of thedigital diaryor journal, the personal web site, aguideto asubject,a collectionof links, digests,essays, opinion, andquirky commentary .What distin- guishthem from other kinds of websites arethe frequent, usually short, datedentries. Con- cisenessis highlyvalued, as are wittiness andattitude. The rst weblogsappeared in 1997. Thanksto theintroduction ofblogging software in 1999,theblogging phenomenon has grownexponentially .ByAugust 2002,therewere an estimated half million weblogs(Sep- tember 11 Digital Archive 2002b and 2002c). Althoughthe weblog links listed in therefer- encesare no longeron the September 11 Digital Archives website, theycan still bereachedat theURLs provided. W eblogsare not necessarily updated and include broken links and links to lesthat nolonger exist. 12.Blooddistinguishes between the earlier type of weblog, which was “ amix oflinks, commentary,andpersonal notes” that roamedthe web at large,from the more recent type, which is morelike a “short-formjournal.” The latter areupdated, often more than once a day,and mayengage in conversationwith otherblogs. Blogs attract their ownfans and provide op- portunities fordigital fame.Perhaps because of the nature of thesurvey ,this kindof activity wasnot notedin “TheCommons of the Tragedy: How the Internet W asUsed by Millions afterthe T errorAttacks to Grieve,Console, Share News, and Debate the Country’ s Re- sponse,”by Lee Rainie, Director, andBente Kalsnes, Research Assistant ( 2001). 13. Thedocument is undatedbut was issued quickly and not long after September 11. 14.Iwouldlike to thankAdrienne Cooper for sharing these experiences with meon August 24, 2002. 15.JeffreyShandler called my attention to thevideo and CD-ROM, VideoPro les inHeroism: September 11, 2001,byAryeh Gelbard ( 2002),andthe Yiddish book, Himl signaln by Y.Y.S. (2002). 16.Considerthen the implications offeeding bagels and cream cheese to theMuslim prisoners heldin Guanta´namoBay ( NewY orkTimes 2002 4:2). 17. “Fascinating Fascism” rst appearedin the NewY orkReview of Books (6 February 1975) and wasreprinted in 1980.Theessay was prompted by the publication of Leni Riefenstahl’ s The Lastof theNuba (1974),theintroduction to whichwhitewashed Riefenstahl’ s career,and Jack Pia’s SS Regalia (1974),whichfetishized fascist trappings. 18. Quotedin NormanL. Kleeblatt, MirroringEvil: NaziImagery/ RecentArt (2001:97). 19.“Welcometo theW orld’s OnlyOnline Holocaust Museum Documenting the Israeli Ho- locaustAgainst the Arab People” was researched and curated by former AP (NewY orkbu- reau)reporter Michael Hoffman and Assad Said al-Mansour ( 2002). 20.Whilenot particularlyaudible, dissenting voices could be heard immediately and from vari- ousquarters, including religious communities. Someheard in Bush’s declaration“ to ridthe worldof evil” and to “bombthem back to thestone age” a programof extirpation echoing Hitler’s “Final Solution.”Others questioned the dualism, notingthat America’s waron evil wasthe mirror imageof Bin Laden’s waron evil, andcalled for Americans to lookinto the mirror (seeLoy 2002). 21.TheAnimating Democracy Initiative wasestablished in 1999 with thesupport of the Ford Foundationto strengthenthe role of the arts in civic dialogue( 1999). 22. See,for example, OnlineVigil.com ,http://www.onlinevigil.org/ ., NYCStories ,http:// nycstories.com/ .,whichincludes links to WorldT radeCenter stories andfolklore, Urban LegendsReference Pages ,http://www.snopes 2.com/index.html ., Arts Wire ,http://www. artswire.org/current.html#news 3., The Onion ,http://www.theonion.com/onion 3734/ index.html., and Dang Funny ,http://www.dangfunny.com .. 23. Takingthings a stepfurther, “tragedypro teering” created havoc on eBay,theauction web 42 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

site. WorldT radeCenter memorabilia, as well as newspapers printed at thetime ofthe attack, wentup for auction at inated prices, “ auction terrorists”placed false bids, many eBay users expresseddisgust at theunseemly behavior, and eBay rst implemented,and then lifted, a banon sellingsuch items. 24.Indeed,the NYC & Co. webpage for Lower Manhattan has hardly been altered, except that thephantom towers have been slipped into thetourist itinerary asfollows: “ Theghost of the twogreatest, the T winT owers,now has a viewingplatform on Liberty Street where visitors canpay their respects”(NYC & Co. 2002a). 9/11 is not includedin thelink to “Fun Facts AboutLower Manhattan” at thebottom of thepage (NYC & Co. 2002b).

References

Abumrad,Jad, producer 2002 “24 hourson the Edge of GroundZero.” Documentary with Soundprintand WNYC. ,http://www.outposts.org/New_York/index.htm ..

AdvancedSimulation Systems 2002 Flight Simulators andFlight TrainingDevices . ,http://www.ightsimulation.com/ ..

Adler,Jerry 2001 “Shootingto theEnd.” Newsweek, 15 October. ,http://www.msnbc.com/ news/639271.asp?0sp4 w17b2#BODY..

Akira_AU 2001 OperationJust RewardV ersion 2.Presentedby @W arand T eamShadow . ,http:// www.planetrainbowsix.com/atwar/RS/atwar_mods/ojr/index.asp ..

AlbinoBlacksheep 2002 NewY orkDefender by Stef andPhil . ,http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/ash/ nydefender.html ..

AmericanAssociation ofMuseums 2002 “What AreOther Museums Doing?” Day of Remembrance,American Associa- tion ofMuseums. ,http://www.aam-us.org/initiatives/mcaf/tk 03.cfm..

AnimatingDemocracy Initiative 1999 ,http://www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy/about/index.asp ..

Baker, Al 2001 “Fireghters Oppose a Plan to RecordTheir Memories of Sept. 11.” New York Times, 7 December:B10.

Beck, Glenn 2001 “Coincidenceor Conspiracy .”Glennbeck.com. ,http://www.glennbeck.com/ news/05172002.shtml..

Blair, Jayson 2002 “GroundZero Crowds Don’ t PleaseEveryone.” NewY orkTimes , 26 June:B1.

Blood,Rebecca 2000 “Weblogs:A History andPerspective.” Rebecca’s Pocket , 7 September. ,http:// www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html ..

Brown,Roger William, andJames Kulick 1977 “FlashbulbMemories.” Cognition 5, 1:73–99.

Bumiller, Elisabeth 2001 “Bushand Blair TradePraise at White HouseLove Fest.” NewY orkTimes , 8 No- vember:B3.

City ofV allejo 2002 [Vallejo] NewsBulletin , February. ,http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/GovSite/default .asp?serviceID 14 229&Frame4 L1.. Kodak Moments 43

CNN 2001 “Microsoft to Alter‘ Flight Simulator’Game.” CNN.comSci-T ech , 14 September. ,http://www.cnn.com/ 2001/TECH/ptech/ 09/14/microsoft.ight.sim/ .. Collins, Glenn 2002 “Disaster RewritesMuseums’ Guidebooks.” NewY orkTimes , 23 February:A14. Cooper,Adrienne 2002 Personalcommunication with author, 24 August. Corporationfor Public Broadcasting 2002 TheSonic MemorialProject. ,http://www.sonicmemorial.org/ ..Aprojectof National Public Radio’s Lost andFound Sound . ,http://www.npr.org/programs/ lnfsound.. Cuthand,Doug n.d. BlueHills Productions. ,http://www.dougcuthand.com/Columns 300/Column 363_dougcuthand.html.. DukeUniversity 2002 “LookingBack: 9/11 AcrossAmerica.” Audio le. Centerfor Documentary Stud- ies at DukeUniversity . ,http://cds.aas.duke.edu/exhibits/lookingback.html .. Dwyer, Jim 2002 “Beneaththe Rubble, the Only T oolW asa Pair ofCuffs.” NewY orkTimes , 30 October:B1. Dwyer,Jim, andKevin Flynn 2002 “Sept. 11 TapeHeard in Secretin Fire Inquiry.” NewY orkTimes, 11 July:1. eBay 2002 “1000 Photo Imagesof WTC Attackand Aftermath.” eBay Item # 1074801724, 15–20 February. ,http://www.ebay.com .. Eden, Ami 2001 “AmericaReels as T errorW arHits Home,Mideast Mayhem Invades Free W orld in ApocalypticAct That ‘ ChangesHistory ,’‘Americanand Jewish Identities Merge ona DayLike This.’ ” Forward, 14 September. ,http://www.forward.com/issues/ 2001/01.09.14/news1.html.. Everhart, Karen 2002 “SonicMemorial Documentaries Recall Histories ofthe W orldT radeCenter.” Current, 13 May. ,http://www.current.org/doc/doc 0209sonic.html.. Exit Art 2001 “About Us.” ,http://www.exitart.org .. Filkins, Dexter 2002 “Bin Laden’s GuysHave Cloaks and Daggers T oo.” NewY orkTimes , 8 Septem- ber, sec. 4:3.

Franke-Ruta,Garance 2002 “‘Missing’Sensitivity: Washington,D .C. Offersa VeryCrude Commemoration of 9/11.” TheAmerican Prospect, 20 February. ,http://www.prospect.org/ webfeatures/ 2002/03/franke-ruta-g- 03–20.html.. Gefter,Philip 2001 Unpublishedcomments from the panel “ ConfrontingSeptember 11 and Be- yond.”Tisch School of the Arts, Departmentof Art andPublic Policy,NewY ork University series, “Reections on September 11:Antecedentsand Conse- quences.” 30 October 2001. Gelbard,Aryeh, producer 2001 VideoPro les inHeroism: September 11, 2001.NewY ork:Studio 7 Productions. Dis- tributedby Sameach Music. 44 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

George,Lynell 2001 “VoicesThat Carry beyond the T owers:‘ SonicMemorial’ Will Preservethe TradeCenters’ Aural Images.” LosAngeles Times , 26 November:E1. Glanz,James, and Eric Lipton 2002 “Rescuingthe Buildings beyond Ground Zero.” NewY orkTimes , 12 Febru- ary:A1. Goedde,Brian 2001 “TheCoup’ s Bomb:MC Boots Rileyand His Platform.” thestranger.com , 11(1), 20–26 September. ,http://www.thestranger.com/ 2001-09-20/music.html .. Goldstein,Richard 2002 “Dayof Attunement:Observing 9-11 theJewish W ay.” VillageV oice, 4–10 Sep- tember. ,http://villagevoice.com/issues/ 0236/goldstein.php .. Grossman,David 1999 SeeUnder: LOVE .NY: Farrar, Straus andGiroux. Hargraves,Ruth 2002 “Cataclysmand Challenge: Impact of September 11, 2001,onOur Nation’ s Cul- tural Heritage.”A Reportfor Heritage Preservation onBehalf of theHeritage EmergencyNational TaskForce. ,http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PDFS/ Cataclysm.pdf .. Harjo,Suzan Shown 2001 “Native Peoplesin theSociety of Sorrow and Justice.” IndianCountry T oday , 19 September. ,http://www.indiancountry.com/? 320.. HereIs NewY ork 2001 “About Us.” HereIs NewY ork . ,http://www.hereisnewyork.org/about .. 2002a HereIs NewY ork: ADemocracyof Photographs .Zurichand New Y ork:Scala. 2002b “HereIs NewY ork,Fact Sheet.” ,http://hereisnewyork.org/contact/factsheet. asp.. 2002c “Photo archiveto bedisplayed continuously on the Ellipse andat theCorcoran Galleryin Washington,DC, forpublic re ection on the rst anniversaryof 9-11 attacks.”Press release, 19 August. ,http://hereisnewyork.org/washington/ .. Hoffman,Michael, and Assad Said al-Mansour, curators 2002 “Welcometo theW orld’s OnlyOnline Holocaust Museum Documenting the Israeli HolocaustAgainst the Arab People.” ,http://www.hoffman-info.com/ palestine.html .. Jensen,Jennifer 2001 “ParksRemoves Union Sq. Memorial, Fences Off Statue.” TheVillager , 10 October. ,http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid 4 2478574&BRD4 1840&PAG4 461&dept_id4 112392&r 4 8.. JewishEducation Center of Cleveland 2001 “TheJewish Education Center of Cleveland’ s ImmediateResponse Curriculum, September 11, 2001:ADayof National Tragedy.”CurriculumDepartment. ,http://www.jecc.org/edres/curric/irc/tragedy.pdf .. Jones,Bronston 2002 “Missing: Last Seenat theW orldT radeCenter on September 11, 2001.” ,http:// www.bronston.com/missing.htm .. Juon,Steve “ Flash” 2002 “TheCoup: Party Music: 74 Ark/TommyBoy .”Review .www.rapreviews.com, 5 January. ,http://rapreviews.com/archive/ 2002_01_partymusic.html .. Keegan,Robert 1999 Kodak:The Kodak Century 1900–1999.AnnualReport, page 14. ,http://www. kodak.com/US/en/corp/annualReport 99/download/pdfs/history.pdf .. Kodak Moments 45

Kleeblatt,Norman L., ed. 2001 MirroringEvil: NaziImagery/ RecentArt .NewY ork,New Brunswick, NJ: Jewish Museumand Rutgers University Press. Kuzub, Ruth 2001 “Letterto theEditor.” Villager, 3 October. ,http://www.zwire.com/site/news. cfm?newsid4 2444029&BRD4 1840&PAG4 461&dept_id4 237531.. Lang, Berel 2000 HolocaustRepresentation: Art within theLimits ofHistory andEthics .Baltimore: Johns HopkinsUniversity Press. Langer,Lawrence L. 1998 Preemptingthe Holocaust .NewHaven: Y aleUniversity Press. Levy,Steven 2002 “Living in theBlog-osphere.” Newsweek, 26 August. ,http://www.msnbc.com/ news/795156.asp#BODY.. Lin, Maya 2002 “TheArt ofHonoring the Dead.” Newsweek, 9 September. ,http://www. msnbc.com/news/ 801958.asp.. Linkyand Dinky 2001 ,http://64.82.72.19/20billsecrets.shtml .. Long, Adam 1946 “Sceneof PlaneCrash Last Night: AirplaneCrashes into Skyscraper;Ceiling Re- ducedby Fog.” NewY orkTimes , 21 May:1ff. Loy,DavidR. 2002 “ANewHoly W arAgainst Evil? ABuddhistResponse.” TheReligious Consul- tation onPopulation,Reproductive Health and Ethics , 18 September. ,http://www. sacredchoices.org/New% 20Holy%20War%20Against%20Evil%20-%20 loy.htm.. Luo,Michael 2002 “SomeW ant to Drop‘ Hero’Label.” Firehouse.com , 5 September. ,http://www. rehouse.com/terrorist/ 911/9_APheros.html .. Magro,Anthony 2001 “Letterto theEditor.” Villager, 3 October. ,http://www.zwire.com/site/news. cfm?newsid4 2444029&BRD4 1840&PAG4 461&dept_id4 237531.. Mandell,Jonathan 2001 “History Is Impatientto EmbraceSept. 11.” NewY orkTimes , 18 November, sec. 2:1. McKinnon,Ethan, andDrew Baye 2002 OperationCat’ s Lair:The Hunt for Osamabin Laden .TheW aron T errorismSeries. DeadT reeEntertainment. ,http://www.deadtree-ent.com/ .. Merken,Daphne 2002 “Forget‘ Is It Goodfor the Jews.’ Is ‘Nazi’Exhibit Goodfor Art?” Forward, March. ,http://www.forward.com/issues/ 2002/02.03.22/arts1.html.. Microsoft 2001 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000,Flight Simulator Patch. Microsoft Games.Posted byMicrosoft on 3 October. ,http://www.microsoft.com/games/fs 2000/default. asp.. Museumof the City ofNew Y ork 2002 ACommunityof ManyW orlds: ArabAmericans in New Y orkCity . 2 March– 11 September. ,http://www.mcny.org/arabs/arab.htm .. Myoda,Paul, andJulian LaVerdiere 2001 “Filling theV oid, aMemorialby Paul Myodaand Julian LaVerdiere.” New York TimesSunday Magazine , 23 September:80ff. 46 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

NewY orkTimes 1945 “MayorLays Crash to BomberPilot; 8 DeadIdenti ed.” NewY orkTimes , 30 July:1ff. 2002 “GuantanamoFood Pyramid.” NewY orkTimes , 27 January, 4:2.

NYC & Co. 2002a “LowerManhattan.” ,http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagepkey 4 442.. 2002b “DowntownNYC Fun Facts.” ,http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index. cfm?pagepkey 4 634..

Onion 2001 “AShatteredNation Longsto Careabout Stupid Bullshit Again.” Onion 37, 35 (3 October). ,http://www.theonion.com/onion 3735/a_shattered_nation.html ..

Pia, Jack 1974 SS Regalia.NewY ork:Ballantine Books.

Pie4Foo 2002 Review of OperationJust Reward . Pie’s Tactics. Pie TinPublishing. ,http:// www.piestactics.com/les/midas/justreward_review.asp ..

Pollock, Barbara 2001 “Dividing theArtifacts ofSeptember 11.” VillageV oice , 25 December:56.

Rainie, Lee,and Bente Kalsnes 2001 “TheCommons of the T ragedy:How the Internet W asUsed by Millions After theT errorAttacks to Grieve,Console, Share News, and Debate the Country’ s Response.”W ashington,DC: PewInternet and American Life Project, 10 Oc- tober. ,http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report 4 46..

Riefenstahl,Leni 1974 TheLast of theNuba .NewY ork:Harper and Row .

Rosenblum,Doron 2001 “ApocalypseNow and Forever.” Forward, 14 September.

Rosenstock,Bonnie 2002 “Watchingas W earyRiders Road down to GroundZero.” Villager, 2 September. ,http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid 4 5211359&BRD4 1840&PAG 4 461&dept_id4 112392..

Rosenthal,Jack 2002 “9/11:FindingUtility andRespect in theDictionary ofDisaster.” New York TimesSunday Magazine , 1 September:28.

Ross, A. 2001 “RevengePromissory Note.” ,http://www.cajuncowboy.com/ 2001dlr.htm..

S., Y.Y. 2002 Himl signal:in teror geviter,nitsoylimun martierin der shoyderlikher tragedye in Amerike. SpringV alley,NY: Motsi Orah.

Saulny,Susan 2001 “Pilgrimageto NewY orkCity: PayingRespects and Spending Little.” New York Times, 29 December:B1.

Seelye,Katharine Q. 2002 “TVDrama, Pentagon-style:Fictional TerrorT ribunal.” NewY orkTimes, 31 March:A12.

September 11 Digital Archive 2002a September 11 Digital Archive. Smithsonian Institution, theMuseum of the City of NewY ork,New-Y orkHistorical Society,City Lore:New Y orkCenter for Ur- Kodak Moments 47

banFolk Culture, the City University ofNew Y ork’s AmericanSocial History Project, andGeorge Mason University’ s Centerfor History andNew Media. ,http://911.gmu.edu/index.html .. 2002b “What AreWeblogs?” ,http://911digitalarchive.org/websites/weblog what.html.. 2002c “Guideto Websites:Read W eblogs.” ,http://911digitalarchive.org/websites/ weblogs.html .. Snider,Mike 2001 “TradeCenter Removed from the Next ‘ Flight Simulator.’” USA Today, 17 Sep- tember. ,http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/games/ 2001/09/14/ attack-ight-sim.htm .. Snopes.com 2001 “Absentwithout Leave.”Urban Legends Reference Pages. ,http://www. snopes2.com/rumors/israel.htm .. SonicMemorial Project 2002 “Aboutthe project.” The Sonic Memorial Project. ,http://sonicmemorial.org/ public/about.html .. Sontag,Susan 1977 [1974]“MelancholyObjects.” In OnPhotography . NewY ork:Farrar, Strausand Giroux. 1980 [1975]“Fascinating Fascism.”In Underthe Sign of Saturn. NewY ork:Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Speer,Albert 1976 [1948] Spandau:The Secret Diaries .Translatedby Richard Winston andClara Winston. London:Collins. Spilka,Abby R. 2002 “Remembranceand Renewal: One Museum’ s Accountof 9/11.” Museum News, September/October: 40–45, 61. StrangeCosmos 2002 “Funnypictures, political parodies.” ,http://www.strangecosmos.com/jokes/ pictures.asp . (8 September). UniformedFire ghters Association 2001a “SafetyInterviews on WorldT radeCenter.” UniformedFire ghters Association of GreaterNew Y orkLocal 94, 65-2 #28, 9 October. ,http://www.ufalocal 94.org/ 652_main/652_2001/652_28of01.html.. 2001b “FirehouseInterviews and Closing of Safety Battalion.” UniformedFire ghters As- sociationof GreaterNew Y orkLocal 94, 65-2 #35, 12 December. ,http://www. ufalocal94.org/652_main/652_2001/652_35of01.html.. 2001c “ContinuedParticipation at ServicesIs Imperative.” UniformedFire ghters Associ- ationof GreaterNew Y orkLocal 94, 65-2 #27, 4 October. ,http://www.ufalocal 94.org/652_main/652_2001/652_27of01.html.. Uzinagaz.com 2002 Axe Throw. Website originallycreated 1999. ,http://uzinagaz.com .. Vexler,Jill 2002 “PleaseRespond: Can Y ouHelp?”E-mail, 29 April. WABC 2001 “TextbookPublishers Rush to MakeUpdates.” New Y ork-WABC, 8 October. ,http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_ourschools_ 100801 texbooks.html .. Wakin, DanielJ. 2001 “SeekingGuideposts to Helpin No-Man’s Land.” NewY orkTimes , 18 Novem- ber:B9. 48 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

White, E.B. 1949 HereIs NewY ork .NewY ork:Harper & Brothers. Wice, Nathaniel 2001 “DidT errorists Train with CommonPC Flight Simulator?” On Magazine, 13 Sep- tember. ,http://www.onmagazine.com/on-mag/reviews/article/ 0,9985,174835 -1957,00.html.. Yates, FrancesA. 1966 TheArt of Memory .Chicago:University ofChicagoPress. York,Jamie, Davia Nelson,and Nikki Silva, producers 2002 “WalkingHigh Steel.” Aired on All ThingsConsidered , NPR, 1 July. ,http:// www.npr.org/ramles/ atc/ 20020701.atc.06.ram.. Zehren,Charles V . 2001 “AdEerily EchoingTragedy Is Pulled.” Newsday.com , 13 September. ,http:// www.newsday.com/ny-bzad 132363680sep13.story..

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett isUniversity Professor andProfessor ofPerformance Studiesat theTisch School ofthe Arts/ NYU.Her mostrecent book is DestinationCul- ture:T ourism,Museums, and Heritage (Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1998).