"Salvaged Steel" Series
Total of 9 photographs in the series
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On a rainy afternoon in Late February 2003, artist Mark G. Picascio was given a special private tour of the last salvaged steel remains of the World Trade Center. His Guide was the Team Leader from the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY).
So captivated by what he was seeing and feeling emotionally as he was surrounded by and immersed in the steel that was once one of the world’s greatest structures, that Picascio had to photograph and document what he discovered on that cold and rainy day.
The experience was so overpowering and intense that his revelation of emotions of artistic discovery compelled him to take photographs until his camera ran out of film.
These images of steel now emerge in a powerful way, seen in a new light are discoveries of a transformation in shapes, textures and colors that reveal the strength beneath the tragedy of 9/11. So inspiring that these photographs led to a painting “Angel Watch” that was featured in a September 11th Memorial Exhibition along with the “ Salvaged Steel” Series in September, 2003.
In September 2005, this same series of photographs were accepted by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (L.M.D.C) of New York City for the New Memorial Museum to be built at Ground Zero in 2008.
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| World Trade Center steel beam at the salvage yard, New York, Feb. 2003. |
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Mark G. Picascio captures on film a segment, a glimpse, a shimmering fragment of a moment in time— scenes to discover when you look just a little further beyond your normal vision.
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Photos available in 24" x 20" or 46" x 31", gloss or low luster, mounted.
Click on photo to view an enlarged version and enter the slide show.
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"Crimson Echoes"
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"Aubergine Revealed"
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"Aqua Relief"
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"Cadmium Angle"
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"Cinabar Curl"
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"Umber Relections"
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"Vermillion Torque"
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"Chartreuse"
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"Ruste Crossbar"
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ARTIST INTENT
“Salvaged Steel” photography series by MARK G. PICASCIO
September 11th, 2001 will be a day in time that we as a nation will never forget. This horrific event in our lives as Americans will be marked in our memories forever.
My intent as an artist was not to exploit the situation, but document my visit. I had no idea what I would experience when I journeyed though the (HNSE) Salvage yard in Jersey City, New Jersey, on February 2003.
My Guide was Mr. David Sharp, Steel Salvage Team Leader from the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY). On a rainy afternoon in late February 2003, I was given a special private tour of the last steel remains of the World Trade Center as we knew it. On entry to this vast space, I was mesmerized and captivated at what I was viewing before my very eyes, teary eyes that is. I was overwhelmed with emotion by what I was seeing and feeling as I was surrounded by and immersed in the steel that was once one of the world’s greatest structures.
This overpowering experience was so intense that I felt the need as an artist to express the emotions that I was feeling through artistic discovery by taking these photographs” in the moment”. A revelation of the intense colors, shapes and textures that surrounded me, led me to take photographs until my camera ran out of film.
These photographic images emerge in a powerful way. The steel, now seen in a new light, are my discoveries of a transformation in color, shape, texture and form that reveal the strength beneath the tragedy of 9/11.
These images were photographed on location by Mark G. Picascio, at the Hugo Neu Schnitzer East Company (HNSE) in Claremont Terminal, Jersey City, New Jersey.
(HNSE) was the largest processor of the approximately 350,000 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center site from September of 2001 through October, 2003.
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Copyright 2006 Mark G. Picascio
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