Times Square Midnight Moment

I LIVE HERE

Animation from “A Marvelous Order”

Joshua Frankel

May 1–31, 2016

Every night | 11:57 pm–midnight

May’s Midnight Moment Animates The Battle for the Streets of New York City

(New York, N.Y.) April 24, 2017 – In partnership with Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and The Municipal Art Society of New York, Times Square Arts presents artist Joshua Frankel’s I LIVE HERE, Animation from “A Marvelous Order” on Times Square’s electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in May. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.

In the mid-20th century, urban theorist and activist Jane Jacobs took on Robert Moses, the Master Builder behind most of New York City’s bridges, highways, housing projects, parks, zoos and public swimming pools, in a battle over the fate of lower Manhattan and New York City as a whole – one that is still relevant today.  Joshua Frankel brings that battle to visual life with animation, creating a collage of photographs and film footage, computer-generated imagery, libretto fragments, and blueprints for Moses’ proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway to illustrate the epic structures, millions of people, grassroots protest, and abstract urban theories involved in the conflict. Excerpted from the forthcoming multimedia opera A Marvelous Order, I LIVE HERE travels through the city, speeding by the buildings that would have been demolished by the Lower Manhattan Expressway, watching the infinite drips of air conditioners or the growth of shadows across a street, and unfurling change like rolls of sod across empty spaces. The result examines preservation, “progress,” and the very human conflict that grew out of themes that are right at home in Times Square.

A Marvelous Order is being composed by Judd Greenstein with direction and animation design by Joshua Frankel and a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith. An excerpt of A Marvelous Order will be performed at Fulton Center on June 15, 17, and 18 as part of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s River To River Festival.

Joshua Frankel, Artist, said “I grew up three blocks west of Times Square. I walked these blocks on my way home from school, and later I worked here. Our city is always changing, and whatever dramatic metamorphosis Times Square undergoes seems to caricature what the city is going through. As a young man, the decisions and decision-makers affecting seismic changes to my neighborhood seemed invisible. The sod rolls seemed to unspool on their accord. That youthful perception is part of the spark behind my artistic exploration of Moses, Jacobs and the human actions that affect the shape of our environment.”

Andrew D. Hamingson, President of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, said “Lower Manhattan Cultural Council is thrilled that A MARVELOUS ORDER, which we will present excerpts of in the River To River Festival in June, will be on those amazing Times Square video boards in May.  There is no better way to honor Jane Jacobs during her celebratory month.  LMCC couldn’t be prouder of Josh, Judd, Will and Tracy for this groundbreaking opera about the people that make New York City pulse with electric energy.”

Elizabeth Goldstein, President of The Municipal Art Society of New York, said, “In Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, Joshua Frankel found a rivalry truly worthy of opera. We can think of no better stage for this grand drama than the Midnight Moment in Times Square. MAS is proud to partner with Times Square Arts on this installation, a nightly reminder of the character that our city nearly lost to the Lower Manhattan Expressway.”

Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “Jane Jacobs thinking not only saved part of the city in the past, but also shapes policy and practice today.  Now, one of her most notable fights comes to our screens, displaying the tensions that grow out of redevelopment in a neighborhood that has its share of planning missteps.”

Debra Simon, Times Square Arts Director, said, “Joshua Frankel’s animated collages use modern techniques to represent history, not depicting precisely what happened during specific events but evoking how they felt.”

Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, “The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts is thrilled that Joshua Frankel’s I LIVE HERE will be a part of Midnight Moment. An iconic destination, Times Square has always played a major role in New York City history and Frankel’s multimedia piece is a story about New York City and people who grow with the city.”

The following digital screens are participating in the May 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, CEMUSA, City Outdoor, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD127/CNN, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD128, Disney Store Spectacular, Microsoft Cube and Welcome Center Live Tiles,  Morgan Stanley, Outfront Media 1515 Broadway/ Viacom North & South, Sherwood Equities 1 Times Square, SILVERCAST Digital Spectacular – Times Square, Superior Digital Displays Crossroads of the World, Triple Play on 7th Ave & The Waterfall on 42nd St.

About Midnight Moment

Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running digital art exhibition, synchronized on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57pm to Midnight. Presented by the Times Square Advertising Coalition and curated by Times Square Arts since 2012, it has an estimated annual viewership of 2.5 million.

Past artists featured in the program include Naoko Tosa; Matteo Zamagni; Alex Da Corte; Pipilotti Rist; Tal Yarden; Emilio Perez; Tim Etchells; Elizabeth Peyton and Kristian Emdal; Jherek Bischoff; Beau Stanton; Saya Woolfalk; 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