Times Square Digital Screens to Play Bjork's Innovative New Music Video

By: Feb. 28, 2013
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A video by internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Björk will be shown every night in March as part of a synchronized program on over fifteen of the largest digital signs in Times Square. Björk's work, Mutual Core, will premiere just before midnight on March 1st and play throughout the month as part of the Midnight Moment, a presentation of the Times SquareAdvertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts. Directed by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang, this video has been edited specifically for the digital signs and is part of Björk's Biophilia Series, combining music with technological innovation and exploring themes of science and nature. In the video, the forces of nature explode across a futuristic landscape where volcanoes erupt from a desert floor, a snowstorm transforms the environment, and anthropomorphic rocks come to life orbiting around a goddess of nature. The original version of the video was created by MOCAtv for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. This Midnight Moment presentation is part of the New York City launch of Streaming Museum's Nordic Outbreak, an internationally touring exhibition of leading contemporary Nordic artists.

Björk said: "I am very excited about my Mutual Core video being shown at Times Square! Seems like the united screens there are going to have a go at matching the energy of the volcanoes in the video! Good luck Manhattan!!"

Alan High, Chairman of the Times Square Advertising Coalition and President & General Manager of Clear Channel Outdoor Spectacolor & Mall Divisions, said: "The signs of Times Square are known the world over as the best place to display new and exciting content. We are delighted to showcase Björk's fascinating film, which will surely capture the attention and imagination of Times Square visitors and locals alike."

Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said: "In her style and her art, Björk is a master at getting us to stop and notice. In this month's Midnight Moment, which is both surreal and startling, Björk reaffirms Times Square's role as a place where people can come to stop and notice, and take in something edgy, interesting, and beautiful."

Nina Colosi, Streaming Museum Founder and Creative Director said: "Björk and director Andrew Thomas Huang have mixed fine art and pop culture in the music video, Mutual Core. Björk is beautifully and playfully intertwined in the realms of human, nature and universe, a philosophy that inspires her work. This fascinating silent remix of the music video made for the Times Square Midnight Moment transports the piece even further into the realm of visual art."

Björk's Mutual Core was directed by Andrew Thomas Huang and commissioned by MOCAtv, the newly launched, contemporary art video channel, developed as a digital extension of the education and exhibition programming of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Björk is an internationally renowned singer-songwriter who has often collaborated with filmmakers and artists, including Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Lars Von Trier, and partner Matthew Barney.

Björk's Midnight Moment exhibition is a prelude to the New York City launch week of Streaming Museum's Nordic Outbreak, an internationally touring exhibition of over 30 contemporary Nordic artists. From March 31 to April 6 a series of events will take place, among them, exhibitions in public spaces including Dag Hammarskjold Plaza and Scandinavia House; social events; a lecture at The New School, and a symposium at Scandinavia House with Nordic artists, theorists, and curators of the exhibition. Among the artists to be exhibited are Eija-Liisa Ahtila, J Tobias Anderson, Björk, Jesper Just, Hannu Karjalainen, QNQ/AUJIK, Dan Lestander, Una Lorenzen, Egill Saebjornsson, and Superflex. For more information please visit http://nordicoutbreak.streamingmuseum.org/

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, formerly known as Times Square Moment: A Digital Gallery, 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 for the Times Square Alliance, with additional partners of participating sign holders and artists. Past artists featured in the program include 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; Brian Gonzalez (aka Taxiplasm);and Yoko Ono. For more information on past projects, please visit www.TimesSquareNYC.org/MidnightMoment.

Each night, Times Square becomes a digital art gallery through dazzling visuals on select billboards and newsstands. Every show begins at 11:57pm with a "countdown" that signals the start of the 3 minute nightly presentation. Content changes monthly; selected works are announced in the weeks preceding the start of a new show as are the exact signs participating in that month's selection.

The following digital screens are participating in the March Midnight Moment: ABC Super Sign, American Eagle Times Square, Bank of America, CEMUSA, City Outdoor, Disney, JVC Screen, NASDAQ, Spectacolor HD129 / Times Square Museum & Visitor Center Marquee, ClearChannel HD128, Spectacolor HD127 / CNN Screen, Times Square Museum & Visitor Center, Viacom North & South (SL Green Realty) Thomson Reuters, and 7TS (7 Times Square).

Guidelines for artist and designer participation in future programs are located on the Times Square website.



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