TIME SQUARE EDITION
PUBLIC EVENT + PERMANENT INSTALLATION
Time Square Edition
On March 11, 2019, we took over one of the largest LED displays in the world. Visitors in New York’s iconic Times Square could take in Sila Sveta’s CG art during the opening weeks of Ian Schrager’s new Edition hotel.
A giant LED screen covers the building’s facade along its perimeter. We let the architecture lead us to create the illusion of a glass box brimming with abstractions of bright hues.We had a special VR program integrated into the Unity platform. It allowed us to keep testing our ideas and improve every detail of this momentous visual endeavor. Our software allowed us to manipulate a virtual Times Square and determine how our video would move and display on the building’s screen depending on the viewer’s perspective.
Our resulting content coated the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue for several months, repeating on a loop eight times an hour. Times Square sees 330,000 unique visitors every day, giving this installation one of our largest audiences yet. Media coverage included The New York Times, Document Journal, and Whitewall, as well as extensive coverage in Russian media, including Afisha daily, Rusbase, Incrussia, and Sostav.ru.
Time Square Edition Activation
As part of a week of events celebrating the opening of the new EDITION hotel in Times Square, Ian Schrager has commissioned a public-facing art installation in collaboration with multimedia design studio Sila Sveta that pays homage to Alexander McQueen’s iconic Spring 1999 fashion show. Specifically, the moment when model Shalom Harlow was spun on a wooden platform as two giant robotic arms sprayed her and her pristine, white dress with black and yellow paint.
Schrager’s version took fashion insiders like Alex Lundqvist, Faith Lynch, Eric Rutherford, Ty Hunter, and Ashley Haas and put them in white, Edition-branded jumpsuits before placing them on a circular dais where they were spun around as two robotic arms covered them in purple, orange, and black paint.
Videos of the participants will run on the massive Jumbotron billboard on the corner of 47th and Broadway every hour until March 25, with the robotic installation itself being opened up to the public on March 13 from 1-6pm.
“We wanted to bring something unforgettable to Times Square and to create an iconic moment to mark the opening of The Times Square 'Edition'. The activations will be unique visual experiences that the public can take part in to celebrate this momentous occasion.”
Sila Sveta
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