The terror attacks of 2001 were supposed to mark the "end of the age of irony," Graydon Carter famously said, and of course, after a requisite period of sadness and gravity, it all came roaring back, snarkier than ever.

   Mark Borthwick and family

But Tricia Jones, the editor and curator for her "Soul i-D" book and exhibition, which opened Thursday at Christie's New York didn't backslide. She was already there. In fact, she started the project at i-D Magazine back in 1998 as a reaction to the go-go late 1990s. "I was slightly appalled by some of the values that I saw around me," Ms. Jones says. "What are we passing on to our children? There's got to be more."

So roll your eyes if you like, but this is earnest stuff. Jones invited friends, students, and artists to send in answers to questions such as "What is beyond price?" and "What have you learned that you'd like to pass on?" In answer to the first question, photographer Rick Haylor submitted a photograph and the simple caption: "The last time I saw my mother. (Mother's Day 1998)."

The exhibition has gone up in Paris, London and Milan since last November, and will continue in New York through July 30, for free. The sprawling project incorporates photographs, essays, painting and collage. The 600-page book is published by Taschen; the party was sponsored by Gucci.

Ms. Jones says she knows Soul i-D's message risks sounding "Pollyanna-ish." Nevertheless, she adds: "We have a responsibility in the media. We really can, even in a small way, influence the way people see things." So there, smart mouths.