SPACE TRIP // COMMISSIONED BY MTA ARTS & DESIGN // 52 CHANNEL ANIMATION INSTALLATION // FULTON CENTER NYC // 2020
In January 2020, I was commissioned by the MTA Arts and Design program to create a 52 channel installation in the Fulton Center in NYC. This was a dream project for me. While living in New York the art in the subway stations would always bring some relief and joy during the chaotic commute. Often while shoved against a stranger on the train, I would close my eyes and imagine the places I would rather be. Reading tarot cards on a tropical island or sipping wine in an underwater restaurant? Sign me up. This project is also inspired by the inner sanctuary visualization technique in Shakti Gawain’s book Creative Visualization and the daydreaming I did as a kid.
Tara Foster of MTA Arts and Design and I met in the Fulton Center on March 6 to make sure all of the 52 screens were synced up. Having moved to Richmond, VA in November, I was already very nervous in early March about traveling to New York. The timing of this project has not been ideal, but I do wish it can serve as a delightful distraction for all of the essential workers still taking and operating the trains during the pandemic. The installation was meant to run until June 2020, but now the end date is to be determined. Also because of the pandemic, I was not able to properly to document this project, so my cellphone footage must suffice for now.
Below is Tara Foster’s fantastic description of Space Trip, as well as some of her excellent photos of the installation.
“Imagine a world where birds commute to work, couples dine in underwater bubbles, and poodles dance in an outer space nightclub. Space Trip, Jordan Bruner’s site-specific digital animation now on view at the Fulton Center, is inspired by her subway ride daydreams of imaginary landscapes, bringing to life fantasy worlds in her favorite places such as tropical islands, colorful forests, outer space, and the deep sea. These surreal scenes create alternate realities and bring added color and humor to Fulton Center. In Jordan Bruner’s world, the animals dance in space while the planets orbit around each other...Space Trip, Bruner’s fantastical 52-channel digital animations can be seen for two minutes at the top of each hour in the Fulton Center complex and the Dey Street pedestrian tunnel that connects to 11 subway lines and the World Trade Center PATH station. The work can be enjoyed through June 2020.” - text by Tara Foster of MTA Arts and Design
To learn more about the process behind this project, keep scrollin’. Below are some of my original style frames.
And here are some of my original sketches. Some are much sloppier than others! I sketched a lot of the forest and restaurant scene by hand, photographed, and then moved the images around in Photoshop. By the time I got to the beach and space scene, I had a pretty good idea of the general set-up, so I sketched directly on my Cintiq (this is why they are much cleaner drawings.) I then roughed in all of the color to see how they worked across all four environments. I started with the beach and then moved on to the forest. I had the most difficulty, overall, with the space scene. The color, composition, and characters all seemed more challenging for some reason.
For color inspiration, I looked to some of my favorite painters Milton Avery, Nicolas Party, David Hockney, and Kathy Bradford.
Before I start a project, I like to gather reference for inspiration. Here are some of my faves.
