“Scenes from Last Week” Art opening

July 15 – August 15, 2011
Rags A GoGo and 14th Street Framing Gallery
Rags-a-gogo 218 W14th Street and directly across the street,
14th Street Framing Gallery, 225 W14th Street.
Both between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

In a city constantly moving forward and erasing its relationship with the past, this video installation flips that experience by re-inserting the past into the present. Comprised of two video monitors in two storefronts directly across the street from one other, this installation displays synchronized surveillance camera views recorded from the previous seven days. Scenes from Last Week: W14th St creates a perceptual trip wire into the past, intended to reawaken our senses to the randomness and ritual in our daily environment.

Scenes from Last Week: W14th St is a new work by media artist Andrew Demirjian in collaboration with Art in Odd Places and the Eyebeam Art + Technology Center where he is currently an artist in residence. In this work, surveillance – a constant yet hidden aspect of daily life in New York City – is made apparent, uncovering the archeology of the everyday. The hashtag #sflw is being used on Twitter for passersby to post their photos and comments on the work. The Flickr site and QR code allow participants to see their contributions and explore the growing database of visitor’s interaction with the piece. The mobile phone and Internet extension of the work takes the concepts of looking at looking and expanding reflections in a digital hall of mirrors into a virtual environment. View the website here: Andrew Demirjian.

Art in Odd Places is pleased to present Scenes from Last Week: W14 St, at 218 W 14th Street. This new public media installation kicks off the AiOP festival exploring rituals of the everyday. Scenes from Last Week: W14 St examines the nonverbal gestures of the urban landscape and the tension between fear of surveillance and love of being on camera.