Donald Bracken ART Habens very vulnerable and that there was a real complacency by American institutions considering how many people this country has pissed off. I somewhat share Noam Chomsky’ s point of view of the United States’ role in 9 / 11 as a ramification of its international policies. It appeared to me that there would come a day when an icon of American imperialism would be attacked and a normal means of conveyance would cause the disruption of the World Trade Center. I did two pieces on this theme while I had my studio at the World Trade Center— one was World on Fire, and the other was called Premonition of Disaster. Needless to say, I could not have conceived of the tragedy of 9 / 11, nor, as a pseudo New Yorker, could I have predicted my sense of loss or that my world would be turned upside down as a result of the events of 9 / 11, and the chain of events that are taking place as a result of America’ s reaction to 9 / 11.
Thanks a lot for this interesting conversation, Donald. Finally, I would like you to tell our readers something about your future projects. Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of? carloads of art supplies in boxes and cans. I am white, blue-eyed, and, at that time, was also blond. The mostly Middle Eastern security staff never checked my materials. I did have a photo ID, but it seemed odd that they were so casual in light of the World Trade Center terrorist bombing in 1992. It occurred to me while looking out over the city from this icon of American international financial interests that I could be in the IRA or a blond fundamentalist Muslim, but because of my race I was never checked. It seemed to me that the building was
I’ m currently working on a project called Damascus Falling, which is another piece where I’ m reframing the Heaven and Earth idea, except instead of having the vision of a city shattered by the traumas of two iconic buildings falling, now it’ s become a vision of the total decimation of some of the many cities and regions currently being ravaged by the traumas of war— in some cases much like people lined up to be shot, in an allusion to Goya’ s work about the instruments used by the Holy Inquisition, and El Greco’ s painting 3rd of May 1808, of Spanish peasants being shot by the French.
In the summer I’ ll be doing an outdoor installation at Lionheart Gallery in Pound Ridge, New York, and I also have a planned installation of a yet-to-bedefined vine and root piece and exhibition of other work at Five Points Gallery in Torrington, Connecticut, this fall. Denise and I are currently seeking out new venues for It Takes a Village, and I’ m looking for an appropriately large venue for Memorial Windows.
Thank you for asking me to be in your magazine and for asking such thoughtful insightful questions
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