On September 9, artists Jason Krimes and Michael Manjarris placed eleven steel statues onto pedestals along the Elysian Fields Avenue neutral ground. The purpose? To commemorate the eleven workers killed in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in early 2010.[1]

Each figure stands approximately human-height, weighs 500 pounds, and had to be placed on its podium with a forklift, and by casually glancing at the work, one realizes that each piece is not simply steel and concrete.[2]

It is apparent that each figure carries with it a meaning beyond the metal, a hidden significance. The sculpture provides no insight to its importance. There are no plaques reciting the piece’s history, no descriptions of any kind.

Krimes explains that he chose not to include markers or words of any kind on the piece because he would like to keep the work mysterious, inviting interested viewers to look up the significance of ‘ELEVEN’ and in the process educating themselves on the 2010 tragedy, thus raising awareness for the victims of the explosion.[3]

Among those killed in the accident was the husband of Natalie Deason, 22-year-old Shane Rusto. Deason exclaimed that she fully supports the commemorative work of Krimes and Manjarris, and plans to bring her son, Blaine, to the sculpture soon.[4]

Truly, the work of Manjarris and Krimes offers a subtle artistic take on one of the most devastating natural-gas disasters of the modern era, while respectfully honoring those killed and presenting them as distinctly noble figures, their legacies etched in iron.

Krimes and Manjarris’ ‘ELEVEN’ leaves a resounding mark on all who visit the piece, and the story of the Deepwater Horizon can been seen in theaters September 30, 2016, starring Matt Damon as Mike Williams, one of the 115 survivors aboard the oil rig when it exploded.

From all of us here at Isidore Newman School, thank you for your service.

[1] http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2016/09/deepwater_horizon_sculpture_ne.html

[2] http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2016/09/deepwater_horizon_sculpture_ne.html

[3] http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2016/09/deepwater_horizon_sculpture_ne.html

[4] http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2016/09/deepwater_horizon_sculpture_ne.html

Edited by: Rebecca French