Statement Accepting TTGG Invitation

In August 2010 I received an invitation to join the organization Twin Towers Go Global as the first artist in residence for their Artists & Scholars Reinvent World Trade Program. Excited by the ambitious program of TTGG, I accepted the invitation on September 2nd, 2010. Conscious of the possible criticisms and objections of many people whose opinion I respect, I am issuing this short public statement.

I am thrilled to be working with TTGG. Artists today cannot sit on the sidelines as decisions are being made about the fate of the world. If someone has decided that the Twin Towers of New York are to be duplicated in different cities around the world, why shouldn’t artists or architects get involved to make sure it gets done right? TTGG’s challenge to help develop plans for new WTC buildings in New Orleans and Kabul, for example, is formidable.

As I join a project that is so clearly larger than all of us, I will do my best to stay true to the principles I hold dear. These include the importance of international cooperation over violent confrontation, as well as the belief that art and aesthetics exist within, not outside, the most difficult ethical issues of our time. Is it possible to build a truly international memorial that honors the lives of those who died in New York, as well as those fallen in Kabul, Baghdad, and Darfur? Can we imagine a common language in art and architecture, which might express the often contradictory positions we inhabit? I believe we can, and for the next three years I am ready to do everything within my power to help Twin Towers Go Global realize that dream.