Proposal for a Times Square Business Improvement District
Traffic Median Public Art Project
Febuary 28th, 1995
Artist: Christian Marclay
Title: Broadway Musicals
Site: Traffic median between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, from 45th to 46th Streets
Project Description: Site-specific public art project using standard street signs to list the titles of more then 400 Broadway Musicals
A grouping of 140 poles each 12 feet high, 2.5 Inch diameter, P.I.G. (pole in ground) and 4 feet apart.--form a grid running parallel to Broadway and occupy the whole surface of the median. Poles situated over the existing grates are attached by V.A.B. (vault anchor base), a standard device made specifically for that purpose. Each pole holds three green 'blades', 9 inches high and averaging 30 inches in length, depending on the title's length.
In accordance With the BID guidelines, this project is physically sturdy, sensitive to public safety, and easy to maintain. All the materials utilized are durable and have been used for years by the City's Department of Transportation.
New fences line the two sides of the median, visually framing the sign posts, protecting them and functioning as a deterrent to pedestrians wanting to cut across 7th Avenue and Broadway. The cluster of poles also reads as a barrier when seen from the sidewalks.
If curious viewers want to venture under the canopy of signs, they can enter the median at both extremities at the pedestrian cross paths on 45th and 46th Streets and safely wander around.
The nature of the materials ensures a low-cost maintenance schedule, and does not require special skills, time, and materials beyond the normal services currently provided by the BID and the Department of Transportation.
The fabrication and installation of the artwork will also be low-cost when done by the existing and experienced crew from the Department of Transportation.
Partial estimate: for materials: (see attached diagram)
Project's concept: Signage plays a key role in the visual stimulation one encounters on Times Square. All around one sees giant billboards, neon messages, posters, marquees, banners, traffic lights, sign posts, warnings, street names, the famous zipper, the Sony jumbo video screen, etc. ln keeping with the character of this dense information center, I propose to create a "forest of signs" that commemorates two and a half centuries of musical theater on Broadway. The names of over 400 musicals printed on green metallic street signs testify to the vast achievements and variety of New York's musical theater, from The Beggar's Opera of 1751, considered the first Broadway musical, to today's Cats and Tommy. (see attached list). These signs form a dense and abstracted map of the history of Broadway. The odd juxtaposition of titles read like a three dimensional poem of random words and suggest new meanings to the hurried passerby.
Proposal for a Times Square Business Improvement District
Traffic Median Public Art Project
Febuary 28th, 1995
Artist: Christian Marclay
Title: Broadway Musicals
Site: Traffic median between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, from 45th to 46th Streets
Project Description: Site-specific public art project using standard street signs to list the titles of more then 400 Broadway Musicals
A grouping of 140 poles each 12 feet high, 2.5 Inch diameter, P.I.G. (pole in ground) and 4 feet apart.--form a grid running parallel to Broadway and occupy the whole surface of the median. Poles situated over the existing grates are attached by V.A.B. (vault anchor base), a standard device made specifically for that purpose. Each pole holds three green 'blades', 9 inches high and averaging 30 inches in length, depending on the title's length.
In accordance With the BID guidelines, this project is physically sturdy, sensitive to public safety, and easy to maintain. All the materials utilized are durable and have been used for years by the City's Department of Transportation.
New fences line the two sides of the median, visually framing the sign posts, protecting them and functioning as a deterrent to pedestrians wanting to cut across 7th Avenue and Broadway. The cluster of poles also reads as a barrier when seen from the sidewalks.
If curious viewers want to venture under the canopy of signs, they can enter the median at both extremities at the pedestrian cross paths on 45th and 46th Streets and safely wander around.
The nature of the materials ensures a low-cost maintenance schedule, and does not require special skills, time, and materials beyond the normal services currently provided by the BID and the Department of Transportation.
The fabrication and installation of the artwork will also be low-cost when done by the existing and experienced crew from the Department of Transportation.
Partial estimate: for materials: (see attached diagram)
Project's concept: Signage plays a key role in the visual stimulation one encounters on Times Square. All around one sees giant billboards, neon messages, posters, marquees, banners, traffic lights, sign posts, warnings, street names, the famous zipper, the Sony jumbo video screen, etc. ln keeping with the character of this dense information center, I propose to create a "forest of signs" that commemorates two and a half centuries of musical theater on Broadway. The names of over 400 musicals printed on green metallic street signs testify to the vast achievements and variety of New York's musical theater, from The Beggar's Opera of 1751, considered the first Broadway musical, to today's Cats and Tommy. (see attached list). These signs form a dense and abstracted map of the history of Broadway. The odd juxtaposition of titles read like a three dimensional poem of random words and suggest new meanings to the hurried passerby.