Fiber Art
World Trade Center/Twin Towers Under Attack
- Description
- Framed fiber art piece created by Hila Paldi and titled World Trade Center/Twin Towers Under Attack. The piece depicts the Twin Towers after being struck by hijacked planes on September 11, 2001. The knitted piece, made with mixed-material yarn is in a metal frame with a black velvet mounting.
- Historical Notes
- Hila Paldi was born in 1958 in Israel and has resided in London, Kyoto, Tokyo, and New York City. Her grandmother taught her how to knit as a child. Paldi knitted this fiber piece based on footage of the burning Twin Towers aired repeatedly on major television networks following the attacks.
Curator's Comment
Israeli-born Hila Paldi owned and operated her own Pilates studio in Manhattan. On the morning of 9/11, Paldi had already commenced a typical workday when a client arrived and mentioned that a plane had just crashed into the upper floors of one of the Twin Towers. Having no television or radio in her studio, Paldi called a friend who informed her that a second airplane had struck the other tower. All too familiar with the brutal tactics of terrorism experienced in her native Israel, Paldi closed the studio and sent her staff home.
It was not until she returned to her apartment that Paldi first saw televised news coverage of the attacks. Later that day, she and her boyfriend responded to the call for blood donations at a nearby Red Cross outpost but were turned away due to the overwhelming public response. For the next week, Paldi stayed focused on news coverage as more information emerged about the attacks, their perpetrators, and the number of civilian and first responder causalities. Moved by the ghastly footage of the burning Twin Towers aired repeatedly on major television networks and sickened by the unimaginable horror of it all, Paldi felt driven to create something in an attempt to come to terms with this new reality.
She quickly turned to knitting, a craft that she’d enjoyed since childhood. With images of the burning towers seared into her thoughts, Paldi began with a sketch. Aside from some metallic yarn that she purchased expressly for this project, she utilized mostly yarn scraps that she had around her home.
It was not until she returned to her apartment that Paldi first saw televised news coverage of the attacks. Later that day, she and her boyfriend responded to the call for blood donations at a nearby Red Cross outpost but were turned away due to the overwhelming public response. For the next week, Paldi stayed focused on news coverage as more information emerged about the attacks, their perpetrators, and the number of civilian and first responder causalities. Moved by the ghastly footage of the burning Twin Towers aired repeatedly on major television networks and sickened by the unimaginable horror of it all, Paldi felt driven to create something in an attempt to come to terms with this new reality.
She quickly turned to knitting, a craft that she’d enjoyed since childhood. With images of the burning towers seared into her thoughts, Paldi began with a sketch. Aside from some metallic yarn that she purchased expressly for this project, she utilized mostly yarn scraps that she had around her home.
- Accession Number: C.2014.398.1
- Dimensions: 11.5 in X 14 in X 1.5 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 29.21 cm X 35.56 cm X 3.81 cm
- Source: Hila Paldi
- Credit Line: Gift of Hila Paldi
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