Encounters of the WTC-Kind

2002, 7:28 min, color, sound

Encounters of the WTC-Kind is a multi-disciplinary, ongoing investigation into the culture of ghosts and waveforms residing in the World Trade Center building environment. Begun in the summer of 2000, when Lucas was an artist-in-residence in the North Tower of the Trade Center, this project has gained resonance — and an altered context — in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

From May through October 2000, Lucas participated in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's World Views program, which provided artists with studio space on the 92nd floor of One World Trade Center. In Encounters of the WTC-Kind, which consists of a single channel video and a Web project, Lucas explores the nexus of electronic transmissions and the spirit world, in a site "haunted" by invisible presences.

Writes Lucas: "Assuming that occupants of the spirit world and waveforms such as electronic transmissions exist in a shared and invisible space as 'ghosts,' is it not possible that they are actively in communication with one another, capable of building strategies, and carrying forth actions?"

The video component of this project resulted from an on-location interview with two first-time visitors and a former temp worker in the Trade Center's Tower One, recorded in August 2000.

The Web component includes transcribed interviews, a questionnaire, stories from residents and visitors, and comments received through the site's email form. The project can be found at the following url: http://www.invisibleinhabitants.com/

Camera Operators: Kristin Lucas, Anna Vogel. Interviewer: Kristin Lucas. Interviewees: DJ Mr.E, Gebhard Sengmüller, Gretchen Skogerson, Anna Vogel. Production Assistance: Thundergulch, LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) part of the World View studio program in Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York. more at www.invisibleinhabitants.com