Tribute in Light
Annual tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks
The Tribute in Light is an art installation created in remembrance of the September 11 attacks . [1] It consists of 88 vertical searchlights arranged in two columns of light to represent the Twin Towers . It stands six blocks south of the World Trade Center on top of the Battery Parking Garage [2] in New York City . Tribute in Light began as a temporary commemoration of the attacks in early 2002, but it became an annual event, currently produced on September 11 by the Municipal Art Society of New York. [3] [4] [5] The Tribute in Light was conceived by artists John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian LaVerdiere, and Paul Myoda, and lighting consultant Paul Marantz . [6]
On clear nights, the lights can be seen from 60 miles (97 km) away, [7] visible in all of New York City and most of suburban Northern New Jersey and Long Island . The lights can also be seen in Fairfield County, Connecticut , as well as Westchester , Orange , and Rockland counties in New York . [ citation needed ]
The two beams cost approximately $1,626 (assuming $0.11 per kWh ) to run for 24 hours. The 88 xenon spotlights (44 for each tower) each consume 7,000 watts . [8] As of 2011 [ update ] , the annual cost for the entire project was about $500,000. [9]
A similar Tribute in Light has also appeared on occasion at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia , across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. , which was also targeted during the 9/11 attacks.
Background
After the September 11 attacks , several people independently conceived the idea of using lights for remembrance. These efforts were merged under the umbrella of the Municipal Art Society and Creative Time . [10]
Tribute in Light initially ran as a temporary installation from March 11 to April 14, 2002, and it ran again on September 11, 2003, to mark the second anniversary of the attack. [11] Since then, it has been repeated every year on September 11. It was announced that 2008 would be its final year, [1] but the tribute was continued in 2009. [12]
On December 17, 2009, it was confirmed that the tribute would continue through the tenth anniversary of the attacks in 2011. [13] In 2012, plans were underway for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to assume the lease for the MTA property used during this tribute, and to begin transitioning operation of the tribute from the Municipal Art Society to the memorial foundation. [14]
The lights are produced by an Italian company named Space Cannon, [15] which sends a team every year to help with the installation. [9] A Las Vegas -based company, Light America, was also part of the team who implemented the project. [16]
Each year, about 30 technicians, electricians, and stagehands work for about ten days to install the lights. During a testing phase of several days, observers in Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Jersey, and uptown Manhattan help make sure that the beams are adjusted accurately. [9]
The project was originally going to be named Towers of Light , but the victims' families felt that the name emphasized the buildings destroyed instead of the people killed. [17]
A permanent fixture of the Tribute in Light was at one point intended to be installed on the roof of One World Trade Center , [18] [19] but it was not included in the finished design. [20]
Since 2008, the generators that power Tribute in Light have been fueled with biodiesel made from used cooking oil collected from local restaurants. [21]
Effects on birds
The light pollution from Tribute in Light has caused confusion for over a million migrating birds, trapping them in the beams. [22] Even at an altitude of several miles, birds can be affected by the lights. [7] As a result of this effect, the beams are switched off for 20-minute periods to allow the birds to escape. [23] To ensure the lights do not affect migrating birds, the Municipal Art Society works with the New York City Audubon on the illumination. [24] A 2017 study found that the installation "dramatically altered multiple behaviors of nocturnally migrating birds—but these effects disappeared when lights were extinguished". [22] [25]
In popular culture
Tribute in Light was featured in Boyz II Men 's music video for "Color of Love". It made a notable appearance during the opening credits of Spike Lee 's 2002 film 25th Hour . The tribute was also shown and referenced in the CBS series Blue Bloods . These lights were featured in the music video of U2 's " You're the Best Thing About Me ".
The video game adaptation of the film Spider-Man 2 features the lights at the approximate location of the WTC site, while another video game adaptation of the film The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , the lights are seen on the construction site of One World Trade Center at night.
See also
- Memorials and services for the September 11 attacks
-
Other beams
- 20th Century Fox logo (designed circa 1935) famous non-military use of searchlights .
- Cathedral of light , a 1937 Nazi propaganda display with massed searchlights pointing skyward.
- spectra , an installation series of light and sound artworks featuring searchlights
- A Symphony of Lights , a contemporary light display in Hong Kong
- Luxor Hotel and Casino skybeam since the mid-1990s, the world's brightest searchlight-style display.
- Dale Eldred , Steeple of Light , Community Christian Church, Kansas City, MO. Completed in 1994.
- Imagine Peace Tower – Memorial to John Lennon near Reykjavík
References
- 1 2 Chan, Sewell (September 11, 2007). "Will Tribute in Light Go Dark After '08?" . New York Times . Retrieved September 12, 2017 .
- ↑ "Tribute in Light" . 9/11 Memorial . National September 11 Memorial & Museum . Retrieved June 7, 2018 .
- ↑ "Tribute in Light" . creativetime.org . Creative Time, Inc . Retrieved June 7, 2018 .
- ↑ Munson, John (September 10, 2015). "Tribute in Light shines bright every year since 2002" . NJ.com .
- ↑ "Tribute in Light" . mas.org . The Municipal Art Society of New York . Retrieved September 12, 2017 .
- ↑ "Tribute in Light | National September 11 Memorial & Museum" . www.911memorial.org . Retrieved August 14, 2020 .
- 1 2 "How Animals Perceive the World" . The Atlantic . June 13, 2022. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023.
- ↑ Chaban, Matt (August 18, 2011). "The End of Tribute in Light: Memorial Goes Dark Forever on 9/12" . observer.com . Observer . Retrieved September 12, 2017 .
- 1 2 3 Caruso, David B. (September 7, 2011). "9/11 light tribute still dazzles; future cloudy" . Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved January 27, 2019 .
- ↑ "Tribute In Light – The Municipal Art Society of New York" . Archived from the original on August 25, 2010 . Retrieved November 4, 2014 .
- ↑ Munson, John (September 10, 2015). "Tribute in Light shines bright every year since 2002" . NJ.com .
- ↑ "September 11th Tribute Lights Up Again" . NY1.com. Archived from " the original on September 14, 2009.
- ↑ Dunlap, David W. (September 10, 2010). " 'Tribute in Light' Will Keep Shining, This Year and the Next" . New York Times . Retrieved September 11, 2010 .
- ↑ Mann, Ted (July 23, 2012). " 'Tribute' Handover" . The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved July 24, 2012 .
- ↑ "Home - Spacecannon SNe - Excellence in the lighting field" . spacecannon SNe . Retrieved May 5, 2019 .
- ↑ "World Trade Center Memorial Has Local Connection" . LASVEGASNOW . March 12, 2002 . Retrieved January 27, 2019 .
- ↑ "Tribute in light to New York victims" . BBC News . March 6, 2002 . Retrieved April 27, 2008 .
- ↑ "Freedom Tower rendering Time-lapse" . Silverstein Properties Inc . Retrieved March 22, 2015 .
- ↑ "SOM Freedom Tower Fact Sheet" (PDF) . Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 3, 2005 . Retrieved March 22, 2015 .
- ↑ "Design changes to base, spire of 1 World Trade Center" . Fox New York. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015 . Retrieved March 22, 2015 .
- ↑ Bevill, Kris (September 15, 2008). "Tri-State Biodiesel fuels Sept. 11 memorial" . Biodiesel Magazine . Retrieved September 12, 2017 .
- 1 2 Van Doren, Benjamin M.; Horton, Kyle G.; Dokter, Adriaan M.; Klinck, Holger; Elbin, Susan B.; Farnsworth, Andrew (October 2, 2017). "High-intensity urban light installation dramatically alters nocturnal bird migration" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 114 (42): 11175–11180. Bibcode : 2017PNAS..11411175V . doi : 10.1073/pnas.1708574114 . ISSN 0027-8424 . PMC 5651764 . PMID 28973942 .
- ↑ Allen, Nick (September 15, 2010). "10000 birds trapped in Twin Towers memorial light" . Daily Telegraph . London . Retrieved September 15, 2010 .
- ↑ Laermer, Emily (August 18, 2011). "Tribute in Light seeks funders" . Crain's . Retrieved August 22, 2011 .
- ↑ Quenqua, Douglas (October 2, 2017). "Yearly 9/11 Tribute Shows Light Pollution's Effects on Birds" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved October 3, 2017 .
External links
- The Municipal Art Society of New York, annual producers of the Tribute in Light
- Tribute in Light , presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
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