12. Drifters at Midnight Moment in Times Square
During December, Times Square Arts will present Drifters by artist duo DRIFT, consisting of Dutch artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, with filmmaker Sil van der Woerd. The kinetic and experimental animated video will be part of the Times Square Arts Midnight Moment series, airing across 75 electronic billboards throughout Times Square from 11:57 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. every day. Co-presented with Creative Exchange Agency, Drifters illuminates the parallels between human behavior, technology, and nature.
At the center of the film is a floating concrete block set against the backdrop of the dreamlike landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. Representing a new life form, the block searches for context, with the film’s usage of natural and man-made elements generating images reminiscent of science fiction. Drifters forces its audience to reconsider our current culture, level of interconnectedness, and hierarchical society, opening us up to dream about alternatives for the world we currently live in. The film does so most prominently in its final scene, which features the block being seamlessly integrated into a built structure, allowing us to question if individuals can ever fully disengage from the collective.
