Part of a landmark series of five site-specific original works by artist Olafur Eliasson, commissioned by CIRCA, and presented in partnership with WeTransfer, November's Midnight Moment is inspired by Times Square itself.
In a blur of abstract shapes and dancing colors, Lifeworld is a floating carousel of lightforms that mimics the iconic cityscape of Times Square. To create the artwork, Eliasson filmed the district and its screens from a number of perspectives; then created a temporal and spatial blurring effect that is to soften and slow down the environment. The work mirrors Times Square in a completely new way, intended to spark the imagination of the public audiences on the plaza below, and offer a radically different perspective on the immediate environment.
Lifeworld takes inspiration from the phenomenological notion that in an unmediated world, we inhabit and experience in common with others and nature. With this work, Eliasson suggests that by connecting to the lived here and now of experience, we may reconnect with one another, learn to live in uncertain times, and even to embrace the potential of a so-far shapeless future.
"Lifeworld explores how soft abstraction - images that are intentionally undefined and open to our personal interpretations - can reveal our place in the world in 2024. Times Square is an enormously impressive spectacle, lined with advertising screens that usually display crisp, sensational imagery," Olafur Eliasson states. "It's a thrill; but the environment also determines my actions - driving me mostly to spend or to consume. Lifeworld shows the immediate site anew and its hazy qualities may prompt questions. If you are suddenly confronted with the reality of having a choice, you might ask what cities, lives and environments do we want to inhabit? And how do I want to take part in them?"
Lifeworld is also concurrently appearing every evening at 20:24 local time from October 1 to December 31, 2024, on the CIRCA global platform across Piccadilly Lights in London, K-Pop Square in Seoul, and Limes Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. The commission will also take shape as a unique digital experience on WeTransfer's online public platform, where viewers from around the world can engage with the artwork 24/7 at WeTransfer.com. November's Midnight Moment presentation marks the first work from Eliasson under his guest curatorship of WeTransfer, with CIRCA as exclusive Digital Screen Partner.