Making Art after 9/11

Following are excerpts from a conversation in Objects of Grace between Dr. James Romaine and artist Makoto Fujimura

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James Romaine: Living two blocks from where the World Trade Center was, how were you impacted by the events of September 11th 2001?

Makoto Fujimura: It was a truly harrowing experience; as the towers were collapsing and the fires were spreading, my wife and our children were all being evacuated from the area, literally being chased by the clouds of dust, ash, and fumes of jet fuel, and we didn’t know when we would return or if our loft would even be there. Judy was at the loft and the children were right around the corner in school so they experienced a lot more than I did. I was trapped in the subway, one station away from the area underneath the towers which collapsed in on itself.

Two months later, having been able to return to our loft, we are just beginning to realize what happened. I feel very protected in that my family was rescued right out of the mouth of the terror. The other side of it is a tremendous feeling of mourning and even anger. Living at Ground Zero is a daily experience of depending on God’s grace.

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In the conversation we had last year, you talked about your art as an expression of “Costly Grace.” While Christ is ultimately the perfect picture of that costly grace, the 9-11 events were another demonstration of the costs of grace.

MF: Christ is the ultimate meeting of God’s “how” and “why” of salvation. And grace is the operative word that fuses the two. We saw these firemen rush to save lives, climbing the falling towers. There is nothing more noble than losing one’s life to save others. This is the greater love that the Bible speaks of, and that love was exemplified in Jesus.

What we saw were two “art forms.” The terrorists’ “art” of vengeance contrasted with the heroes of 9-11 whose “art” was their sacrifice. (I am using this “art” in the classical use of the term, meaning anything we create.) These are two clear opposing ways of creating. Any works after 9-11 will be marked by, and defined by, these opposing categories.