segunda-feira, 29 de abril de 2019

Iconografia do tempo - quando a estátua foi confundida com uma vítima do 11 de Setembro


Estátua de bronze em Wall Street, Nova Iorque, intitulada Double Check, de 1982, da autoria de John Seward Johnson II, localizada inicialmente no Zuccotti Park, em Manhattan. Em Julho de 2018, a estátua foi transferida para o canto noroeste da Broadway e Liberty. (arquivo Fernando Correia de Oliveira)

Lido aqui:

When the World Trade Centers collapsed on September 11, 2001, and downtown Manhattan was ravaged by destruction, debris, and dust, the solitary bronze businessman was as covered with concrete and dust, as everything else was that terrible day. So bewildered, lifelike and shocked did he look, the Double Check businessman was mistaken for a real person by firemen and rescue teams looking for survivors amidst the rubble. Many first responders were said to have approached this dazed, solitary man, only to startle when wiping the dust from him to find bronze underneath.

“Double Check” became an iconic memorial to the many businessmen who died in the attacks, with flowers and candles left there in the days that followed. The statue itself, dented and damaged by the falling masonry, was temporarily removed to the artist’s studio, where it was refurbished by Johnson. But the damage caused by the Twin Towers collapse he left, as a memorial.

A new plaque was added, stating, “the ‘everyman’ businessman presence in Liberty Park who before, had faded into the background amongst his human brethren, has been called ‘the survivor’....this bronze man sits again in his original site bearing scratches and bruises he sustained that day as a poignant reminder of hope and endurance for us all.”

Today, Zuccotti Park remains as popular as ever, with visitors flocking to the new Freedom Tower, 9/11 memorial and excellent museum, and the science fiction-looking Oculus transportation hub. Johnson’s anonymous businessman from the ’80s is still there, double-checking the contents of his briefcase, and still mostly overlooked by passersby.






Sem comentários:

Enviar um comentário