The Odyssey
Antony Nagelmann journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean in a sailboat, imparting the extreme experiences and emotion faced along the way in The Odyssey, which was shown on Times Square’s electronic billboards from 11:57 pm to midnight from December 1 to 30, 2015. This project was a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.
The Odyssey depicted a personal journey taken by the artist across the Atlantic Ocean on the 1929 wooden sailboat The Blue Peter in the winter of 2013-2014. The film explored the meaning of the journey versus the goal through footage gathered by Nagelmann during his 39 days at sea. The Odyssey was divided into three channels to represent separate perspectives throughout the voyage – the preconceived fear and excitement, objective reality, and personal reality of the venture. Viewed simultaneously along with a fourth, immersive audio component, these channels allowed the fullness of the transformative journey at sea to wash over viewers in Times Square.
Artist Antony Nagelmann, said, “While the idea of the journey as goal makes sense philosophically, I wanted to apply this to something real, something more than a meditation or thought. I wanted to feel it- to live it. Crossing an ocean in the winter seemed a good application. I have no intention to relay the notion of a single subjective perspective. Instead, my aim is to provide an explorative documentation of my experience, on several layers, so that the viewers may have their own experience; completely personal to them.”