HOME ABOUT EDITORS BLOG SUBMIT CONTACT FAQ LOGIN Search An interdisciplinary journal about regions, places, and cultures of the US South and their global connections Tweet 38 date published Katrina + 5: An X­Code Exhibition Like 300 authors Dorothy Moye, Decatur, Georgia articles Published: 26 August 2010 Share photo essays Overview: e­mail presentations In an earlier commentary for Southern short videos Spaces, Dorothy Moye described the reviews widespread use of the X­code, an iconic featured images graphic applied by search­and­rescue teams in 2005 post­Katrina New Orleans. Here, in a virtual exhibition, Moye presents X­code Changing Atlanta images selected from the work of more than Documentary Expression twenty­five photographers in the intervening five years. Visually striking and emotionally © Ian J. Cohn, 4725 Dauphine Street, Holy Cross, Landscapes and compelling, the X­code speaks through its Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana, Ecologies sheer numbers, its rhythmic repetition across January 13, 2008. Migration, Mobility, the curving network of city streets, its Exchange narrative traces of ciphered messages, and its graphic directness. Poets in Place Sightings Space, Place, and "Katrina + 5: An X­code Exhibition" was selected for the 2009 Southern Spaces series "Documentary Expression Appalachia and the American South," a collection of innovative, interdisciplinary scholarship about documentary work and Spaces of Southern Labor original documentary projects that engage with regions and places in the US South. 2014 Sections: Introduction 2013 Codes Decoded 2012 First Responders 2011 Maps of New Orleans 2010 Lower Ninth Ward, 2005­2006 2009 Lakeview, 2005­2006 2008 Gentilly 2007 Bywater, 2005­2006 2006 New Orleans East Mid­City 2005 Uptown 2004 St. Bernard Parish French Quarter Lower Ninth Ward, 2007­2010 Lakeview, 2007­2010 Bywater, 2007­2010 Three Spaces Over Time Conclusion About the Curator and the Photographers Acknowledgments and Recommended Resources Introduction: © Brian Gauvin, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana, October 10, 2005. Coded markings indicate the structural instability of this home in the Lower Ninth Ward, washed from its foundation by the force of floodwaters surging through the levee breach on the Industrial Canal before being stopped by trees. In the five years since August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc along the entire Gulf Coast and the subsequent failure of New Orleans’ levee system altered the history and the face of the city, thousands of professional and amateur photographers have sought to corral their memories and impressions of Katrina and its aftermath. Torrents of still and moving images speak to the immensity of the event that poet and New Orleans resident Andrei Codrescu refers to as “the most photogenic disaster in American history since the Civil War.”1 The virtual exhibition presented here revolves around one iconic form in the visual landscape of Katrina in New Orleans—variants of the X­code left by searchers as they systematically covered the city, critically pertinent markings applied to visited houses and buildings. “Paint fades, archives endure,” reads a promotional poster from the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank.2 Displaying three progressively fainter versions of the ubiquitous spray­painted signs that greeted residents returning to the city, the poster solicits electronic recollections for the Memory Bank as it features the X­code graphic that became an indelible symbol on the streets of New Orleans after Katrina. Although outdoors the codes are fading and disappearing, the X­code photographs, recorded by anyone in the vicinity during the last five years with a camera, constitute a documentary archive with tales to tell. The enigmatic X­code messages could appear threatening in their mystery, especially upon structures of personal significance to the viewer, while the cumulative power of thousands of these markings communicated the enormous scale of what had occurred. In addition to wind and water damage, infrastructure destruction, uncertainty about the fate of family, neighbors, and friends, and a complete disruption of familiar life, the appearance of the codes added another unknown—a mysterious graphic with alphanumeric markings spray­painted on homes, schools, businesses, and places of worship. Some residents immediately deciphered their meanings. There were also © Jane Fulton Alt, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, interpretations available such as a New Orleans Times­ 3 Louisiana, November 2005. Two sets of codes Picayune's September 17, 2005, front­page article. Too indicating that a second search took place at this often, though, the message sent was not the message location. The second occurred after the flooding had received. Finding an X­code on his home, University of New receded since the code is applied below the water line Orleans professor Frederick Barton spoke for many when he remaining on the building. commented, "That first day and for many thereafter, we did not understand what the mark meant. In fact, I am not sure that I do yet."4 Artist Elyse Defoor described her first visit back to the city in early 2006: “Instead of being macabre symbols X­ing out all presence, the Xs were in fact a coding system used by the search and rescue teams. The discovery that what I had perceived to be marks of annihilation were in fact useful tools did not diminish the visceral experience of seeing those Xs scrawled across my beloved city. For me, they will always be stigmata of immense loss and unexpected death." 5 How did others interpret the X­code? ". there was something almost biblical about those markings on all the front doors around here. ."6 “. conjuring a cross between the Vévé signs of voudun and a kind of military coroner's occupation.”7 “Now each house bore runic signs in orange spray paint. .”8 “Ah, the X—truly the most powerful symbol, for better or worse, that we have, I think.”9 “For Tales of Life and Death, the Writing’s on the Walls”10 “. end­of­the­world eerie.”11 “. .alarming . invasive . .a violation . .lawless graffiti . disrespectful . .”12 The images gathered in this virtual exhibition entertain all these interpretations and more. Those recorded in 2005 and 2006 were most often found on grievously damaged properties. Some stakeholders returning were disturbed by the memories and symbolism, and quickly painted over, scrubbed and scraped off the codes, or discarded the offending graphics as they replaced doors, © Stewart Harvey, New Orleans, Louisiana, windows, or siding. Others were later removed as a concession to February 2006. Codes are marked on the appearances for insurance purposes. Some residents made a collapsed roof of this demolished house. conscious decision to retain the codes as part of the provenance of that structure or a memorial to the event. Shrine­like tableaux incorporate some X­code markings. Still others remain as unwitting testimonials on neglected, deteriorating structures barely touched since 2005, default memorials and commentaries. © Cynthia Scott, Faubourg St. John, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005. © Elyse Defoor, Lower Ninth Ward, New A heart almost obliterates an offending X on Maurepas Street. Orleans, Louisiana, May 5, 2010. Paint peels as a structure deteriorates. The repetition of the X­code on house after house after house on mile after mile after mile of streets composed a powerful architectural narrative during the weeks following the storm as they appeared on structures spanning the socioeconomic mix of the city. “This [official graffiti] was the now­famous ‘X’ in a fluorescent orange or yellow that on the Caribbean­style color schemes of the homes in New Orleans made for some startling graphics,” recalls New Orleans artist Thomas Mann. “I began documenting these signs immediately and continue to do so. I found these markings to be visually interesting and full of import."13 © Thomas Mann, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005. return to top Codes Decoded: © Thomas Mann, September 2005. Mann was on vacation when the storm struck on August 29, 2005, so, like viewers all over the world, he watched television coverage of the unfolding tragedy in his city. He captured a screen image of a reporter sketching the official code in a notebook while explaining the search process. © Cynthia Scott, Faubourg Marigny, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005. Cynthia Scott's photo provides a clear illustration of the code in Faubourg Marigny in 2005. In addition to its adherence to the manual’s instructions, it stands out because, as the artist observes, “It appears the search team made an effort to coordinate their markings with the color scheme already in place.” Although there is an official code system outlined in the Urban Search & Rescue team manuals used since the early 1990s, the code was not familiar to most citizens. With some 80% of New Orleans’ structures marked, the code commanded unprecedented attention.14 National Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System: Single slash drawn upon entry to a structure or area indicates search operations are currently in progress. The time and TF identifier are posted as indicated. Crossing slash drawn upon personnel exit from the structure or area. Distinct markings will be made inside the four quadrants of the X to clearly denote the search status and findings at the time of this assessment. The marks will be made with carpenter chalk, lumber crayon, or duct tape and black magic marker. LEFT QUADRANT ­ US&R TF identifier TOP QUADRANT ­ Time and date that the TF personnel left the structure. RIGHT QUADRANT ­ Personal hazards. BOTTOM QUADRANT ­ Number of live and dead victims still inside the structure. ["0" = no victims] Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Response System Field Operations Guide, FEMA, September 2003 (US&R­2­FG), IV­11. The most striking portion of the code is the lower quadrant of the X, denoting the number of survivors or bodies. Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) task forces, certified by FEMA, are highly trained first responders, who specialize in response to structural collapse, and who may be deployed in disasters either by FEMA or by sponsoring states.