January 1-31, 2015, every night from 11:57 p.m.–midnight
Special Event with the Artist on January 17
(New York, N.Y.) January 7, 2015 — Artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz has created A Pause in the City That Never Sleeps. The video consists of a continuous yawn on loop, which will be shown on Times Square’s electronic billboards from 11:57 pm to midnight each night in January. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts. The January presentation is in partnership with Performance Space 122’s COIL 2015 Festival. On Saturday, January 17, the final night of their festival, there will be a special gathering with the artist at 11:45pm on Duffy Square, inspiring a massive yawn-in.
The yawning character appears on multiple screens as a bored, omnipresent head looking down at the passing people from between product billboards and advertisements. As yawns are contagious, the masses of people looking up at the screens will inadvertently feel inclined to stop and yawn.
As the yawning masses continue to their different destinations across the city, they will now unconsciously carry with them their contagious message, spreading a scarce and valuable moment of pause throughout the city.
Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “The beauty of Sebastian Errazuriz’s piece is its attempt to induce a contagious moment of calm and pause at the otherwise bustling crossroads of Times Square. That juxtaposition is sure to be powerful for all who have the chance to see it. We will see how the largest digital display of yawns in history will affect the city that never sleeps."
Sherry Dobbin, Times Square Arts Director, said, “Sebastian's piece seduces viewers to become participants in a massive action that can cover Times Square with yawns. Partnering with the COIL 2015 Festival reminds us that Midnight Moment is as much about the performance of the audience on the stage of Times Square as it about the presentation on the screens.”
Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, “I am very proud of all the TSAC Members who have once again collaborated to support the Midnight Moment in the New Year. This moment of pause is fitting to kick off the New Year and allow passersbys to reflect on their aspirations for the New Year ahead.”
Sebastian Errazuriz, artist, said “It’s a little scary as an artist to present a project that is this simple. Nevertheless, I intuitively trust that at times it is the importance of leaving a pause or a blank space that allows us to highlight and be aware of everything else that is in that space. At times the simplest projects are the hardest to do. You cannot hide behind a simple project, the truth is exposed, distilled and present.”
The following digital screens are participating in the January 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, CEMUSA, City Outdoor, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD127, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD128, Sherwood Outdoor
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 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 ArtPlace America and ArtWorks. Visit http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/index.aspx for more information. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @TSqArts.
Sebastian Errazuriz is a Chilean-born, London-raised, New York-based artist and designer. He took art classes in Washington DC, film courses in Edinburgh, and obtained a design degree in Santiago. He later received his Master’s in Fine Arts from New York University. He currently lives and works in New York with parallel workshops in Santiago. Follow him on Instagram at @sebastianstudio .
In 2006, at the age of 28, he became the second living South American artist to have work auctioned at Sotheby’s Important Twentieth Century Design. In 2007, Errazuriz was selected one of the top emerging international designers by I.D. Magazine. In 2010, he received the title of Chilean Designer of the Year. In 2011, he was selected for the Compasso d’ Oro and at the end of that year his work was the talk of Design Miami Basel.
Sebastian's work was subject of a 2014 retrospective exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art. His work has also been exhibited alongside the most celebrated architects, designers and artists at The Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art,, The Cooper Hewitt National Museum of Design in New York, The Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam, The Vitra Museum in Weil AM Rheim in Germany, The Museum of Art and Design in New York, The Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington, The Mint Museum in Charlotte, The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago.
Sebastian’s work has been featured on multiple magazine covers and received critical acclaim from The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, his work has been featured on mainstream TV on BBC, CNN, ABC, and NY1. Many of Sebastian's projects have gone viral, generating tens of millions of search results and captivating the interest of the international community.
Multiple books and catalogues feature his projects and his first monograph, The Journey of Sebastian Errazuriz, was published and distributed internationally by Gestalten in 2012.
Performance Space 122 provides incomparable experiences for audiences by presenting and commissioning artists whose work challenges boundaries of live performance. PS122 is dedicated to supporting the creative risks taken by artists from diverse genres, cultures and perspectives. We are an innovative local, national and international leader in contemporary performance. www.ps122.org.
COIL is Performance Space 122’s annual performance festival that demonstrates the constant vitality of live performance in New York City featuring work created locally, across the US and around the world. www.ps122.org/coil-2015/
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