Sophie Calle's Voir la mer Announced as October Midnight Moment on Times Square Screens

In partnership with French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) as part of Crossing the Line Festival 2017, Times Square Arts presents artist Sophie Calle's Voir la mer on Times Square's electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in October. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.

In Istanbul, a city surrounded by the sea, Sophie Calle met people who had never seen the water. Voir la mer silently reveals their emotional response to the experience of visiting the seashore for the first time, as they stared at the edge of the Black Sea before turning around. Magnified on Times Square's electronic billboards, five of these intimate video portraits evoke the universal power and poetry of watching the infinite.

Sophie Calle, Artist, said, "I took them to the shore of the Black Sea. They came to the water's edge, separately, eyes lowered, closed, or masked. I was behind them. I asked them to look out to the sea and then to turn back towards me to show me these eyes that had just seen it for the first time."

Lili Chopra, Executive Vice President and Artistic Director of FIAF and co-curator of the Crossing the Line Festival, said: "One of France's most iconic artists, Sophie Calle's portraits of men, women, and children seeing the sea for the first time are a poignantly beautiful reflection on the universality of emotion. They connect us all on a deeply human level."

Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, "As part of the Midnight Moment program, Voir la mer fosters quiet, reflective moments within the fast pace of Times Square."

Debra Simon, Times Square Arts Director, said, "Sophie Calle's soulful work connects the personal to the universal, writ large across the electronic billboards of Times Square."

Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, "This month, we're delighted to partner with FIAF and Crossing the Line Festival to display such an evocative global Midnight Moment from renowned artist Sophie Calle. Her work, Voir la mer, captures on film the intimate moments of people seeing and experiencing the Black Sea for the first time ever."

Harry Coghlan, Chairman of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, "With the end of summer looming over us, artist Sophie Calle will bring the calm and delightful sensation of the ocean right to the heart of Times Square."

The following digital screens are participating in the October Midnight Moment:

American Eagle Times Square, Bank of America, Branded Cities 7 Times Square, Branded Cities NASDAQ Tower Times Square, Branded Cities Thomson Reuters, CEMUSA, City Outdoor, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD127, Clear Channel Spectacolor HD128, Microsoft Cube and Welcome Center Live Tiles, Morgan Stanley, Outfront Media 1515 Broadway/ Viacom North & South, SILVERCAST Digital Spectacular - Times Square, Superior Digital Displays Crossroads of the World, Triple Play on 7th Ave & The Waterfall on 42nd St.

About Midnight Moment

Midnight Moment is the world's largest, longest-running digital art exhibition, synchronized on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from 11:57pm to Midnight. Presented by the Times Square Advertising Coalition and curated by Times Square Arts since 2012, it has an estimated annual viewership of 2.5 million.

Past artists featured in the program include Ben Lebovitz; MSHR; Sun Xun; Alex Prager; Joshua Frankel; Naoko Tosa; Matteo Zamagni; Alex Da Corte; Pipilotti Rist; Tal Yarden; Emilio Perez; Tim Etchells; Elizabeth Peyton and Kristian Emdal; Jherek Bischoff; Beau Stanton; Saya Woolfalk; Jennifer Steinkamp; Soundwalk Collective; Lorna Mills; Peter Fischli and David Weiss; Laurie Anderson; Antony Nagelmann; Jesper Just; Shahzia Sikander; Rashaad Newsome; Osgemeos; Eric Dyer; Richard Garet; Andy Warhol; Peggy Ahwesh; Marco Brambilla; Rafaël Rozendaal; Sebastian Errazuriz; Charles Atlas and Antony; Noah Hutton; Ryoji Ikeda; Daniel Canogar; Alfredo Jaar; Isaac Julien; Robert Wilson; Tracey Emin; Seoungho Cho; Vicki DaSilva, Surabhi Saraf, and Elly Cho; Erika Janunger; Takeshi Murata; Bel Borba with Burt Sun and André Costantini; Zach Nader; BrIan Gonzalez (aka Taxiplasm); Björk; JR; Ryan McGinley; Jack Goldstein; Nature Theater of Oklahoma; Ezra Wube; Laleh Khorramian; Brian Dailey; Leslie Thornton; and Yoko Ono. For more information on past projects, please visit: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/projects/midnight-moment/index.aspx