TOKEN CITY
A Multimedia Installation
Muriel Magenta, Visual Artist
Michael Udow, Composer
The New York subway is the subject for a multimedia installation - a vision
that transforms the everyday commute into an experience of images and
sounds that simulates reality. The viewer is immersed in a situation where
emotions and thoughts associated with the subway are implied and heightened:
anonymity of the individual within a crowd, anticipation of the unknown,
the passing of time, and longing to keep going.
Viewers to the gallery will enter a virtual subway platform and encounter
a series of video projections and multiple soundtracks which merge real
people videotaped in transit with a 3D computer-animated subway station.
This computer-generated scene includes rows of riveted columns, iron staircases,
and old tiled walls, coexisting with streamlined subway cars. While waiting
for arriving and departing trains, viewers experience a choreographed
program of electronic music and digital sound effects composed specifically
for Token City. Paralleling subway activity, the Token City installation
is continuous throughout the gallery day with people coming and going
as they please.
TOKEN
CITY: A Multimedia Installation is one component of a four part project
including a 3D animation video short combining visuals and sound; a CD
of all Token City music composed by Michael Udow; and a portfolio of prints
by Muriel Magenta.
A reception for the artists took place
Saturday, September 20, 1997 from 7-9pm.
The event was a dual reception with the exhibition Dis/Functional.
Artist Muriel Magenta presented a lecture on Tuesday, September 9, 1997 at 7:30pm
The exhibition, curated by John D. Spiak, premiered on August 9, 1997 and closed on September 30, 1997.