Times Square, nicknamed “the crossroads of the world,” draped in 50,000 square feet of billboard space and visited by 35 million people a year, gets an estimated 1.5 million views a day. Think of the possibilities.
Forget Coca-Cola, Samsung and a bazillion other corporations for a moment. What if, for a day, commercialism was taken out of this most commercial of spaces? And what if art was left in its place? Who would attempt such a feat?
“No New Yorker has ever thought of turning Times Square into Art Square, and we are going to do it as stupid Amsterdam students,” says 22-year-old Justus Bruns, the bespectacled brains behind Times Square to Art Square, the effort to cover the hub of New York City in artwork.
Friends initially dismissed his grand vision, so Bruns decided to go ahead and start the process on his own. In a single evening, he built a website; within 24 hours, the manager of art projects in Times Square called to give him a piece of advice: “Keep building momentum.” He’s since pulled together a team of Dutch and American enthusiasts with diverse backgrounds, including a financial whiz kid, an internet expert and an art critic.
It’s important to note what Times Square to Art Square is not. It’s not about the replacement of advertising, Bruns says. In fact, it’s not even the coalition’s intention to buy out advertising space. It’s also not about the single day slotted for 2012 when the personality of Times Square is set to be aesthetically altered. It’s about, according to Bruns, “a great journey” and the thinking and sharing of ideas that needs to take place to move a creative vision forward.
Along with displaying the art, they intend to organize online and offline activities to gather millions of people from around the globe who want to see art in this public space for one day instead of company logos. They will then approach the Times Square advertisers with a structured plan to exhibit up-and-coming artists.
Times Square to Art Square needs you. It’s an idea that has found its place in the age of Facebook and Twitter simply because it calls on you to post and Tweet (and perhaps make a small donation) to help a few “stupid” students, for a short while, change our perception of things.
Getting the picture? It’s about all of us believing in something out of the ordinary. So far, Times Square to Art Square has raised $7,361 on its Kickstarter site. Still shy of the $10,000 goal, they need your help to reach the tipping point by 7:30 EST on Wednesday. (If you’re an artist interested in the project, you can also visit their site to upload your own vision of Art Square.)
Photo 1 by Francisco Diez via Flickr and photo 2 by D. Billy.