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Ann Hamilton Installation to Grace NYC Subway Station Being Rebuilt after 9/11

April 30, 2015

Ann Hamilton Installation to Grace NYC Subway Station Being Rebuilt after 9/11

From the College of Arts and Sciences:

Ann Hamilton, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Art, has been commissioned to design a $1 million art project for the Cortlandt Street subway station on the No. 1 line in Lower Manhattan, a station that was wiped off the map on Sept. 11, 2001.

According to a report in The New York Times, the station will be much more than a local stop when it reopens in 2018, and will weave together the past and present, present and potential, as a gateway to significant destinations including the World Trade Center and National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Hamilton, chosen for the project by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts and Design program, will use weaving — of words — as symbolism in the piece. Her concept, still evolving, likely will include horizontal text fragments and vertical text "spines" that would fill about 70 percent of the station's walls. Texts would likely come from documents of international significance, according to the report.

Construction on the $101 million subway station was expected to begin this month. Hamilton, asked if she could comment on the project, said she had "No words, just a sense of honor and responsibility."