Re: Masstransiscope restoration article in NY Times

From: Ted Sonnenschein (email suppressed)
Date: Fri Jan 02 2009 - 00:21:24 PST


He added: "When my ego is low, I do like to find teenagers on the train and
make them look at it."

When I was a teenager in the 80s and coming home late at night on the then D
line to stay at my girlfriend's place, we used to wait for this moment when
the train would slow down and the movie would run. We would peer out the
window together with our faces practically on the glass. I remember when it
started to get covered over with graffiti and how angry I was. I think it
partly inspired me to work on the trains. While these aren't the best
examples of what I am doing, I still spend a lot of time looking out train
windows. If anyone is interested, you can take a peek.

http://vimeo.com/user590271

Anyway, thanks, and congratulations on it being restored. I hope it stays
well-preserved.

On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 11:55 PM, Bill Brand <email suppressed> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Today the New York Times published a very nice article about the
> restoration of Masstransiscope, my 1980 moving image public artwork in the
> NYC subway.
>
> *ARTS / ART & DESIGN* | January 01, 2009
> * Attention Passengers! To Your Right, This Trip Is About to Become Trippy
> * <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/arts/design/01zoet.html?emc=eta1>
> By RANDY KENNEDY
> After two decades of neglect, Masstransiscope - an unusual piece of art
> that is part painting, part movie, part conceptual experiment - is once
> again playing to audiences on Manhattan-bound Q and B trains.
>
>
> The restoration effort began with the 2004 Minneapolis AMIA conference
> panel "Fixing the Moment" Preserving Expanded Cinema" organized by Andrew
> Lampert and Steve Polta. I was subsequently prodded and encouraged by
> archivists Molly Wheeler, Carey Strumm, The Josef and Anni Albers
> Foundation, and NYU-MIAP students and colleagues especially Natalia
> Fidelholtz and Howard Besser. More recently I was assisted by Alice Moscoso
> and Miwa Yokoyama. I can add to this list many FRAMEWORKS members who kept
> the memory of Masstransiscope alive even as it existed only in its decayed
> tunnel obscurity.
>
> It was wonderful to see the workers at ShelterExpress/MetroClean and MTA
> transform from graffiti cleaners into art restorers. Their genuine interest
> and careful labor is very appreciated. Also thanks to MTA Arts for Transit
> and MTA Station Maintenance.
>
> Thanks to all. Happy New Year!
>
> - Bill
>
> --
>
> Bill Brand
> 108 Franklin Street #4W
> New York, NY 10013
> (212) 966-6253
> http://www.bboptics.com/masstransiscope.html
>
> __________________________________________________________________ For info
> on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>

__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.