Black Box, 2010-12
Project Description:
On September 10, 2001 Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari drove a rented car from Boston, Massachusetts to South Portland, Maine. They checked into a hotel at 5:43 pm.
The next morning the two men flew out of Portland International Jetport on Colgan Air, flight 5930. They transferred to American Airlines, flight 11 in Boston. The plane departed at 7:59 am. Atta and Alomari, along with 3 accomplices, hijacked the plane and flew it into the north tower of the World Trade Center. This was the first of a series of devastating attacks that shook and reshaped our world.
Philip Brou located the hotel and room, room 233, where Atta and Alomari stayed in South Portland, Maine. The hotel is near his home, a location he often passes while running day-to-day errands. The artist contacted the hotel and reserved the room.
This project is an investigation of room 233; the room where Atta and Alomari spent their final night. The project’s title refers to the flight data recorder -the black box- that is always running while a plane is in flight.
This project was made possible by the generous support of the Maine Arts Commission, Augusta.
