On September 9th, 2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor turned the night sky above New York into a vast aerial memorial. Created by artists, producers and members of the 9/11 family, survivor and responder communities, the free public artwork marks the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
2,977 lights form the Twin Towers as a living memorial in the sky
Suspended above New York Harbour, 2,977 individual lights honour each person who lost their life on 9/11. Starting as a swirling helix, the lights gradually rise and come together to form the full scale of the Twin Towers, creating a luminous image that connects personal memories with New York’s collective history.
This shape also evokes the THINK team’s World Cultural Center, an unrealised proposal for the World Trade Center which envisaged the site as a civic and cultural space. By returning its lattice-like towers to the sky, the artwork breathes new life into that vision.
Produced by creative director Addison Mehr and Sky Elements, the installation features designer Yan-Paul Dubbelman and artistic advisors Studio Drift, Shigeru Ban, and Dean Maltz. The soundscape includes works by Philip Glass and John Adams, including the latter’s On the Transmigration of Souls, written in memory of the victims of 9/11.
For Studio Drift, whose practice explores light, technology and collective experience, the project offered a particularly meaningful use of drones: “As artists we are humbled as originators of the drone light show medium to be part of one of the most important remembrances of our lifetime.”
The precise number of lights carries the work’s deepest significance. As creative director Addison Mehr explains, “The purpose of 2,977 Lights is to acknowledge individual loss within the collective history and memory of September 11th. We light the exact number to hold witness for each individual life.”
Offered as a gift to New York and to everyone whose life continues to be shaped by September 11, the artwork fills the night sky with a constellation of individual lives, visible across the harbour and held within the city’s enduring memory.
The commemorative art work is a collaboration between artists, producers, and 9/11 families, survivors, and responders; which includes creative director ADDISON MEHR, producers SKY ELEMENTS, designer YAN PAUL DUBBELMAN, artistic advisors STUDIO DRIFT, and SHIGERU BAN and DEAN MALTZ.
The work is scored with recorded music chosen for reflection. Featuring works by PHILIP GLASS, along with On The Transmigration of Souls from JOHN ADAMS, written for the victims of 9/11. Additional works were provided by MAX RICHTER, including On the Nature of Daylight from The Blue Notebooks.
