Afghanistan Refugee A/dress newspaper photos of Afghanistan refugees, paint, and photos on recycled wedding dress with blue tulle overlay 40" x 30" x 40", 2001	WTC A/Dress (World Trade Center) photos from sequence of WTC bombing, paint, and flowers on recycled wedding dress with black tulle overlay 40" x 30" x 50", 2001
Robin Masi http://www.varoregistry.com/masi

I started this project about five days after the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the plane crash in rural Pennsylvania. Like the rest of the world I was stunned at the magnitude of the tragedy and felt helpless in its' wake. I was awakened to the awareness that my country was being perceived of and interacted with in ways I never dreamed possible.  I was horrified and mesmerized by the visual images that bombarded the media. That weekend I went to a local art museum. Regaining the power of art as a form of communication I felt less terrified and more centered. World Trade Center A/dress uses a recycled wedding gown as a canvas for digitally enhanced media images of the World Trade Center bombings juxtaposed with iconographic images of our country and freedom.  Like our country on that day, the transformation of the wedding gown represents a loss of innocence.  The dress is transformed from a garment of ultimate feminine fantasy and identification into one that depicts the present horrific reality. The dress portrays the conflict of the tragedy we experience, yet freedom we still maintain. And with it the hope that by utilizing all forms of communication we can listen, learn, and move forward.

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