Times Square Midnight Moment
Sound of Ikebana (Spring) :: Naoko Tosa
April 1–30, 2017
Every night | 11:57 pm–midnight
Sound of Ikebana (Spring) splashes color across the screens of Times Square
(New York, N.Y.) March 22, 2017 – In partnership with the Japan Society Gallery, Times Square Arts presents artist and 2016 Japan Cultural Envoy Naoko Tosa’s Sound of Ikebana (Spring) on Times Square’s electronic billboards from 11:57 pm to midnight every night in April. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.
Propelled by sound, elegant splashes of color fly in slow motion across a dark screen. Part of a four-video art series designed to express Japan’s four seasons, Sound of Ikebana (Spring) uses the unpredictable natural phenomena of sound vibrations and colorful paint of different consistencies to create intriguing and mesmeric shapes that evoke the art ofikebana –Japanese flower arrangement based around asymmetrical triangular forms. The colors are inspired both by spring images such as apricot flowers and cherry blossoms, as well as the white and gold of the Japanese New Year. Tosa’s slow-motion liquid – filmed at 2000 frames per second – blends artistic traditions with cutting-edge technology and organic designs, inviting audiences to a contemplative visual connection with traditional Japanese culture and its history.
On Tuesday, April 4, visitors can join Naoko Tosa for a viewing of Sound of Ikebana (Spring). Please arrive by 11:30 pm for the 11:57 pm viewing on Duffy Square at Broadway and 46th Street.
Naoko Tosa, Artist, said “I believe in the artistic concept that ‘various cultures in the world are connected just as one from the ancient time at unconscious level.’ Connecting this belief to a computer, I have created a new concept called ‘iCulture’, creating a new art frontier to lead society to a richer future.”
Yukie Kamiya, Director, Japan Society Gallery, said, “Using cutting-edge technology, Naoko Tosa transforms the elegance of Japanese flower arrangement into a mind-blowing digital experience. There’s no better place to project her dynamic work than Times Square, and Japan Society is thrilled to be a curatorial partner.”
Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “It seems only fitting that Tosa’s piece, which combines sound and vibrant color with international culture and history, should come to Times Square, where influences from all around the world settle into our colorful hustle and bustle.”
Debra Simon, Times Square Arts Director, said, “Sound of Ikebana (Spring) brings together traditional Japanese art forms, high-speed video technology, unconventional materials, and natural phenomena and forms in a meditative, innovative, organic whole.”
Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, “Times Square has always been a place where cultures collide from historical traditions to art from around the world. We’re pleased to partner with the Japan Society Gallery to bring such a bright celebration of spring to our screens.”
The following digital screens are participating in the April 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 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
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. Visithttp://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/index.aspx for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at@TSqArts.
Naoko Tosa is an internationally renowned Japanese media artist. After receiving PhD from the University of Tokyo, she was artist fellow at the Centre for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT from 2002 to 2004. Currently she is a professor at Kyoto University. Her artworks have been focusing the expression of Japanese tradition and culture utilizing technology. She exhibited her artworks at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the New York Metropolitan Art Museum, ARS Electronica, etc.
In 1997, the L’Oreal Grand Prix awarded her art and science first prize. In 2012 she exhibited her artwork on LED screen of 250mx30m at Yeosu Expo in Korea. She has been appointed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan as a Japan Cultural Envoy 2016.
Museum Collection: The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The National Museum of Art, Osaka/Japan, The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama/Japan, Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya/Japan, and Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Takamatsu/Japan. www.naokotosa.com
Japan Society Gallery is among the premier institutions in the U.S. for the exhibition of Japanese art and is a platform for reconsidering Japanese culture within a global context. Extending in scope from prehistory to the present, the Gallery’s exhibitions since 1971 have covered topics as diverse as classical Buddhist sculpture and calligraphy, contemporary photography and ceramics, samurai swords, export porcelain, and masterpieces of painting from the thirteenth to the twenty-first century. Each exhibition, with its related catalogue and public programs, is a unique cultural event that illuminates familiar and unfamiliar fields of art.
Founded in 1907, Japan Society is a multidisciplinary hub for global leaders, artists, scholars, educators, and English and Japanese-speaking audiences. At the Society, more than 100 events each year feature sophisticated, topically relevant presentations of Japanese art and culture as well as open and critical dialogue on issues of vital importance to the U.S., Japan and East Asia. An American nonprofit, nonpolitical organization, the Society cultivates a constructive, resonant and dynamic relationship between the people of the U.S. and Japan.
Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street between First and Second Avenues (accessible by the 4/5/6 and 7 subway lines at Grand Central or the E and M subway lines at 53rd St. and Lexington Ave.)
