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For Immediate Release
May 24, 2017
The World’s Foremost Science Festival Descends on Times Square with Activations and Events Including Holoscenes, a Spectacular Performance-Installation That Examines Humankind’s Relationship to Water, Created by Lars Jan and Early Morning Opera and
Co-Presented by the Festival and Times Square Arts
Festival Comprises 60+ Events in Indoor and Outdoor Locations Throughout NYC, May 30 – June 4, 2017
The World Science Festival culminates its groundbreaking first decade by bringing science to the crossroads of the world, Times Square. For four action-packed days, May 31 – June 3, the Festival presents Science in the Square, an array of free activities, demonstrations, and installations aimed at giving the public a greater understanding and appreciation of our ever-changing planet—and our relationship to it. At a time when science—and climate science in particular—is at the heart of numerous pressing policy debates, Science in the Square dramatically builds upon the Festival’s success in communicating its wide-ranging political and cultural implications in ways that educate, entertain, and inspire.
One centerpiece of Science in the Square is Holoscenes, an epic performance-installation that viscerally connects everyday actions to climate change. Born of the widely-shared concern that rising seas, intensifying floods, and extended droughts will be defining issues of the 21st century, Holoscenes takes place in a twelve-ton glass aquarium which, over the course of five hours each day, periodically floods and drains, requiring a rotating cast of performers to respond creatively to changing levels of water. The work was created by Lars Jan and Early Morning Opera. It is co-presented by World Science Festival and Times Square Arts , and was originally produced by MAPP International Productions.
Science in the Square will also include an Energy Floor dance area that converts the energy of human motion into useable electricity; a large LED video wall that powerfully illustrates how global warming is fundamentally changing the earth’s topography; talks, demonstrations, and much more.
Brian Greene and Tracy Day, co-founders of the World Science Festival, said, “It is a great pleasure for the World Science Festival to team up with Times Square Arts, bringing critical scientific ideas into public discourse through artistic performance and active demonstrations.”
Debra Simon, Director of Public Art for Times Square Arts and Times Square Alliance, said, “Times Square Arts has been activating the Crossroads of the World with thought-provoking contemporary art for years. Presenting Holoscenes with the World Science Festival is a remarkable example of how art can explore the impact of climate change.”
Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, “With close to 450,000 people passing through Times Square each day, we welcome the chance to engage with that audience in such a visceral and creative way while at the same time sparking a conversation about climate change that couldn’t be more timely.”
Science in the Square will be open to visitors of all ages from 7 am to midnight on June 1, 2, and 3 with preview hours on May 31. Participation in hands-on activities and interactive installations is on a first-come, first served basis, with demonstrations, talks and shows at the Energy Floor dance area and large LED video wall taking place at scheduled times from 10 am each day. Performances of Holoscenes will take place June, 1, 2, and 3 from 6 pm to 11 pm. Please visit worldsciencefestival.com for more information.
An opening event on May 31 at 11 am will be held as part of the preview hours.
Science in the Square will be centered between Broadway and 7th Avenue, and between 45th and 47th Streets. Holoscenes will take place at 46th Street and Broadway.
The World Science Festival gathers great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content that allows a broad general audience to engage with scientific discoveries. Through discussions, debates, theatrical works, interactive explorations, musical performances, intimate salons, and major outdoor experiences, the Festival takes science out of the laboratory and into the streets, parks, museums, galleries and premier performing arts venues of New York City and beyond.
The annual live, week-long New York Festivals, which launched in 2008, have collectively drawn more than a million and a half visitors, and received more than 50 million views online. Ten years into its existence, the World Science Festival continues to grow across New York City and around the world, with original musical and theatrical works touring nationally and internationally; the 2016 launch of the World Science Festival Brisbane, whose second annual installment took place March 22-26, 2017; and City of Science, a series of free interactive exhibits produced by the World Science Festival and presented by Con Edison that traveled to all five boroughs in 2016.
The World Science Festival is a production of the World Science Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City.
Web: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldSciFest
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldsciencefestival
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldscifest/
Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world’s most iconic urban places. Through the Square’s electronic billboards, public plazas, vacant areas and popular venues, and the Alliance’s own online landscape, Times Square Arts invites leading contemporary creators to help the public see Times Square in new ways. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district’s unique identity. Times Square Arts projects are supported in part by the Times Square Advertising Coalition; The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation; The Stavros Niarchos Foundation; by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Web: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/arts
Twitter and Instagram: @TSqArts
For the World Science Festival:
Blake Zidell and John Wyszniewski
Blake Zidell & Associates
718.643.9052, blake@blakezidell.com, john@blakezidell.com
For Times Square Arts:
TJ Witham, Times Square Arts
212.452.5234, tjwitham@timessquarenyc.org
Marisa Wayne, Rubenstein Communications
212.843.9261, mwayne@rubenstein.com
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