September 11th 2003

Editor: Okay, next up we have Iseult Labote’s "September 11th," from 2003. It's a mixed-media installation—a grid of photographs. It's really striking how these everyday images, presented en masse, transform into something incredibly powerful and unsettling. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The power lies precisely in the *means* of its construction: the re-presentation of images drawn from media sources. Labote’s work isn’t about the event itself, but the mass-mediated experience of it. It raises crucial questions: What materials does she employ? Why a grid format? How does the installation itself implicate the viewer in a circuit of production and consumption of traumatic imagery? Editor: So it's not about the event, but the response to the event through media... interesting. Is it fair to say the work appropriates pre-existing images to make a statement? Curator: Precisely! "Appropriation" isn't a dirty word here; it's a critical tool. The artist isn't trying to trick us with a convincing painting, but rather points us to the way meaning is manufactured through repetition. We consume image after image – each one slightly different but contributing to a shared narrative. Editor: So, by arranging these photos in this specific way, what narrative emerges? Curator: The arrangement underscores the relentless cycle of consumption in contemporary culture, particularly surrounding events like 9/11. We must remember that there are economic factors at play, too. Who profited from these images? From the production of news surrounding this event? Editor: That's... a lot to think about. It really changes how I see the piece. I was initially focused on the emotional impact of the images themselves. Curator: Exactly. Consider Labote’s choices and how labor – artistic, journalistic, and even the labor of the viewer trying to make sense of it all– is materialized in this grid. That gives us insight. Editor: Thank you for showing me how materials and process lead us to this understanding.