March 1-31st, 2016, every night from 11:57 p.m.–midnight
(New York, N.Y.) May 26, 2016—Times Square Arts brings Saya Woolfalk’s brief film ChimaCloud to Times Square’s electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in June. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.
Saya Woolfalk’s ChimaCloud transforms our metro hub and big screens into an imaginary transport hub to a utopian society where inhabitants adopt new behaviors, psychologies and physiologies. Combining animation and live action, ChimaCloud is a series of short digital videos collected from Woolfalk’s ongoing multimedia project ChimaTEK. In the multi-year projects No Place, The Empathics and ChimaTEK, Woolfalk has created the kaleidoscopic world of the Empathics, a fictional race of women who are able to alter their genetic make-up and fuse with plants. With each body of work, Woolfalk continues to build the narrative of these women's lives, questioning the utopian possibilities of cultural hybridity.
This month, Woolfalk’s works will also inhabit two other parts of the city. ChimaCloud: Control Center will be shown on digital screens and through a virtual sculpture and live performance in Fulton Center as part of LMCC’s River To River Festival, while the Brooklyn Museum will display her exhibition ChimaTEK: The Dinner Party Uploaded. These three ChimaTEK interventions offer New Yorkers and visitors an opportunity to travel between worlds as well as across the rivers, bridges and subway lines of New York City.
Saya Woolfalk, Artist, said, “Walking through Times Square is a futuristic experience where people from all over the world pulse through the streets of NYC. I am excited to insert my videos into this complex cosmopolitan context, and see how passersby engage with the ChimaCloud.”
Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “The genius of the artist is to show us another perspective – Woolfalk takes this further and shows us an entire alternative world.”
Sherry Dobbin, Times Square Arts Director, said, “Too often, we battle with the dystopian view of the future and the fearful ‘Bladerunner’ concept of Times Square, but Saya’s creation conjures up new possibilities, transforming our electronic screens into a portal to a utopia.”
Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, “We are always thrilled to partner with cultural events throughout the city, particularly ones that relate to digital media. This exciting collaboration with the Fulton Center and LMCC’s River To River Festival has resulted in a fascinating and energetic piece for June’s Midnight Moment.”
Harry Coghlan, Chairman of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, “Watching our signs transform into a virtual portal of transportation to a new world showcases the extraordinary technology of our iconic digital signs.”
Andrew D. Hamingson, LMCC President, said, “It’s incredible to have joined Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in time to get the fifteenth annual River To River Festival on its feet. We know that bringing live, contemporary art to Fulton Center will inspire those who live, work, learn and play downtown and introduce them to critical voices of our time.”
The following digital screens are participating in the June Midnight Moment:
ABC SuperSign, American Eagle Times Square, Bank of America, Branded Cities 7 Times Square, Branded Cities NASDAQ Tower Times Square, Branded Cities Thomson Reuters, Outfront Media 1515 Broadway/ Viacom North & South, CEMUSA, City Outdoor, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD127/CNN, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD128, Disney Store Spectacular, Morgan Stanley Lights on Broadway, Sherwood Equities 1 Times Square, Superior Digital Displays Three Times Square #5, Superior Digital Displays Triple Play
About Midnight Moment
Midnight Moment is the largest coordinated effort in history by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content on electronic billboards and newspaper kiosks throughout Times Square every night. The program premiered in May 2012 and is organized and supported by the Times Square Advertising Coalition in partnership with Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, with additional partners of participating sign holders and artists.
Each night, Times Square becomes a digital art gallery through dazzling visuals on select billboards and newsstands. Every show begins at 11:57 p.m. with a "countdown" that signals the start of the three minute nightly presentation. Past artists featured in the program include Jennifer Steinkamp; Soundwalk Collective; Lorna Mills; Peter Fischli and David Weiss; Laurie Anderson; Antony Nagelmann; Jesper Just; Shahzia Sikander; Rashaad Newsome; Osgemeos; Eric Dyer; Richard Garet; Andy Warhol; Peggy Ahwesh; Marco Brambilla; Rafaël Rozendaal; Sebastian Errazuriz; Charles Atlas and Antony; Noah Hutton; Ryoji Ikeda; Daniel Canogar; Alfredo Jaar; Isaac Julien; Robert Wilson; Tracey Emin; Seoungho Cho; Vicki DaSilva, Surabhi Saraf, and Elly Cho; Erika Janunger; Takeshi Murata; Bel Borba with Burt Sun and André Costantini; Zach Nader; Brian Gonzalez (aka Taxiplasm); Björk; JR; Ryan McGinley; Jack Goldstein; Nature Theater of Oklahoma; Ezra Wube; Laleh Khorramian; Brian Dailey; Leslie Thornton; and Yoko Ono. For more information on past projects, please visit: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/projects/midnight-moment/index.aspx
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Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) is a trade association comprised of major advertisers, retailers, real estate firms, media companies and other businesses involved in the outdoor sign industry in Times Square, along with organizations representing Broadway and the community. Members of TSAC include: ABC Regional Sports & Entertainment Sales, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Daktronics, D3 LED, Digital Domination, Hines Management, Jamestown One Times Square, Lamar Advertising Company, Landmark Sign & Electric, Metro Media Technologies, Newmark Knight Frank, North Shore Neon, P.R.omotion!, Sherwood Outdoor, SL Green, Times Square Alliance, The WOW Factor and Thomson Reuters. www.timessquareadcoalition.org. Follow TSAC on twitter at @TSACNYC.
Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world's most iconic urban places. Through the Square's electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance's own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district's unique identity. Generous support of Times Square Arts is provided by the. New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/index.aspx for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @TSqArts.
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) empowers artists by providing them with networks, resources and support, to create vibrant, sustainable communities in Lower Manhattan and beyond. LMCC’s public engagement initiatives, including the River To River Festival, demonstrate the role artists play in communities by connecting the Lower Manhattan public to creative practices, ideas, art forms and other audience members seeking similar experiences. Through the presentation and commissioning of performances, talks, exhibitions, studio visits, open rehearsals, readings and participatory events across Lower Manhattan, LMCC aims to inspire the public to think critically about the world around them and increase the attachment that participants feel toward the place where the activity is taking place as well as to their fellow attendees. For audiences of one to 1,000 made up of individuals with a wide-range of interests and experience with the arts, River To River shines a light on neighborhoods where artists are at work. Dance Heginbotham was developed as part of LMCC's Extended Life Dance Development program made possible in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Visit RiverToRiverNYC.com for more information.
Saya Woolfalk (Japan, 1979) is a New York based artist who uses science fiction and fantasy to re-imagine the world in multiple dimensions. She has exhibited at PS1/MoMA; Deitch Projects; Contemporary Art Museum, Houston; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati; the Brooklyn Museum; Asian Art Museum, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Studio Museum in Harlem; the Frist Center for the Visual Arts; The Yerba Buena Center; The Newark Museum; Third Streaming; MCA San Diego; MoCA Taipei; and Performa 09, and has been written about in the New Yorker, Sculpture Magazine, Artforum, Artforum.com, ARTNews, The New York Times, the Huffington Post and on Art21’s blog. Her first solo museum show, The Empathics, was on view at the Montclair Art Museum in the fall of 2012. Her second solo museum exhibition, ChimaTEK Life Products, was on view at the Chrysler Museum of Art in the fall of 2014. She recently completed a new video installation commission for the Seattle Art Museum, and is a 2014 recipient of a NYFA grant in Digital/Electronic Arts. She is represented by Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, NYC and teaches in the BFA and MFA programs at Parsons: The New School for Design. Visit http://www.sayawoolfalk.com/ for more information.
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Media Contacts:
For Times Square Arts:
TJ Witham
212.452.5234 | TJWitham@TimesSquareNYC.org
Marisa Wayne
212.843.9216 | MWayne@Rubenstein.com
For TSAC:
Justine DiGiglio
212.205.6632 │Justine@NicholasLence.com