Rebuilding NYC with the Power of the Mind

I've always been a believer that art borne from the necessity to make sense of complex information is often the most powerful kind, so I was thrilled to learn that MoMA acquired a Mind Map depicting a format for organizing individuals, organizations and groups in the aftermath of 9/11.

Lisa Frigand, a project specialist in economic development for the city's utility company, Con Edison, was closely involved with the rebuilding of downtown Manhattan. The sheer number of entities involved in the process slowed her work.

But this is New York City. Slow pace? We don't have time for that, especially not when things need to be fixed. Frigand teamed up with Mind Mapping specialist David Hill, also of Con Edison. I first met Hill at the US Memory Championships. It was Hill who brought the competition, where mental athletes memorize decks of cards, strings of digits, poetry and names and faces in record time, to Con Edison. Hill told me about his work with Mind Maps, which I also love to create.

Frigand and Hill worked together after 9/11 gathering information from hundreds of sources including reports, brochures, magazines and the Internet, to create a poster-sized Mind Map of all the parties involved in the restoration of lower Manhattan. The main branches they created were government, civic, infrastructure, properties, victims and memorials. They also identified organizations created after 9/11. When the map was completed, it illustrated everyone involved and their connections in what Hill calls "a brain-friendly manner." People connected with the rebuilding effort were able to visualize the big picture and its details at the same time.

The power of the Mind Map, Hill says, is that it shows something very complex in a way that makes it clear.

The New York Museum of Modern Art, Department of Architecture and Design, Acquisitions Committee said, “we all felt that the work was of such important historical interest that we should include it in the MoMA Study Collection. The Mind Map is of particular interest to us given that we hold so much material pertaining to 9/11 and the rebuilding of lower Manhattan."

As a person who loves New York, a friend of David Hill and an ardent MoMA member, I deeply admire this acquisition and the spirit in which the Mind Map was created. Organizing data is the path to the future, and it is the ultimate form of modern art.

Image courtesy of David Hill. Given the complexity of the map, it is impossible to see the details here, but it gives you a sense of how the data was laid out.