The blink of an eye.
Our project begins by looking away, by avoiding eye
contact. Our project opens in darkness until, suddenly, it flickers to life:
5-sweep-4-sweep-3-sweep-2-sweep-1 sweep…
A mask appears: a mask that both shields and reveals,
a disguise that can change: it can be an announcement for an upcoming film or a
screen that shows a film—maybe an old Andrei Tarkovsky film or
any film that has by now become commercially obsolete, but that regardless, is
still worth watching. The audience, sitting in Pushkinski Square, can hear the
soundtrack of the film through their mobile phones. Or the mask can react to
what's happening around it, behind it. It can react to the sound of the
audience inside the cinema. When they laugh, the mask/screen lights up like
fireworks, a computer algorithm will output a fractal-generated image that is
constantly changing. You can walk under the mask, you can walk behind the skin
of the mask, you can climb up behind the mask—the mask is made of steps/seating
some of the steps widen to the size of narrow platforms. Behind the mask is a
place for people to spend time—before a film, or after. From the park you can
see people walking, standing or sitting behind the mask.
Our project will be supported by a steel structure, a
weave of steel. The weave of steel supports hardwood steps coated with a Dupont
brand Teflon coating. On the outer edges of the steps, lines of LED lamps make
up a digital screen: a "Media Façade."
The existing surface of the cinema will be covered in
matte black Corian tiles, with the exception of the ground floor. At street
level, the Corian tiles are translucent white and lit from behind. The lights
behind these tiles will also react to the surroundings. They will flicker; they
will glow; they will shift colors; they will illuminate the sidewalk.