Memorial

I had put off going to the 9/11 Museum until today, feeling a little queasy about the idea of disaster tourism. But having spent some time examining my motives, I decided that I really did want to go and find out how Americans interpreted and remembered that day almost 15 years ago. I remember distinctly where I was when I heard about it and who told me and how shocked I felt at the time.

The museum is completely underground, on the site of the base of the former twin towers. It's quite dark, quite crowded and pervaded by a reverential hush. Two things stood out for me - first, an 11 minute time lapse film about the rebuilding of the site and the healing of people affected, and second, this wall which comprises two artworks. The blue squares are 2,983 watercolour drawings by Spencer Finch, each is a different colour of blue. It's called "Trying to remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning", the idea being that memories and perceptions are as individual as the 2,983 people killed at the World Trade Centre.

The words are a quotation from The Aeneid by Virgil made by Tom Joyce, an artist who originally trained as a blacksmith. They are made from steel recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Centre , thereby "forging it into...letters of hope and beauty..reminding us that Virgil's words are not just a statement, they are a promise."