Awards: New York Subway Stations Digital Video Program Cited For Arts Honor

June 15, 2015 by Dave Haynes

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New York’s MTA subway and commuter rail system has been honored for the digital artwork running on screens around at its new Fulton Center stop.

MTA Arts & Design was recognized by the public art foundation Americans for the Arts for the video installation New York Minute, as well as for a huge suspended sculpture in the atrium at Fulton Center

The Year in Review honor was among 31 outstanding public art projects on the US and Canada, with the video piece winning in the temporary art category.

New York Minute was created by new-media artist Gabriel Barcia-Colombo for Fulton Center. The large-scale video installation features portraits of New Yorkers doing everyday activities in super-slow motion, highlighting the comical and sometimes poignant street interactions that help make the city unique. The title refers to the hectic pace of New Yorkers’ lives.

The videos are displayed on 52 screens throughout the transit hub. They can be seen on the screens in the atrium’s street level and station platform level every 30 minutes, and on the mezzanine for the A and C Lines and in the Dey Street Corridor every 60 seconds.

“The average customer walking quickly past the screens might think the screens are showing a still portrait, but in actuality the screens show different actions in super slow motion. By slowing down and watching the same screen, that customer is rewarded with the whole video of one action, which could be something as simple and joyful as a dancing woman being twirled,” says Yaling Chen, manager of Arts & Design and its digital arts program. “Gabe’s work reminds us to pause for a second and just enjoy the moment.”

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