War Rugs > Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11- USA History

2011
Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM)

"Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History" was the first post-9/11 war rug I have made. Previous installations were based on carpets made in response to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

The installation took 6 days, and culminated on September 11, 2011 -- ten years to the day of the 9-11 terrorist attack.

The pattern is drawn from a media and propaganda sources -- the towers are from popular media, although the attacks are depicted simultaneously. The US and Afghan flags joined by a brown bird are from US PsyOp propaganda leaflets that were dropped prior to the invasion. The aircraft carrier and missle are also from news photography.

The text depicted in these carpets, repeated over time by many different weavers, has disintegrated into abstracted patterns.



Photos of the installation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, from Sept 6 - 11, 2011. The War Rug Project was part of Art Prize, on display through October 9, 2011. Three transfer monoprints were pulled to document the artwork.