VENTILATOR

The proposal thwarts the Neo-Classical entrance to the Museum of Contemporary Art whose podium steps elevate art to a privileged domain above the abject street. The mass of the stair is de-materialized into an electronic reading surface. Each riser is faced with an LED electronic signboard. The 32 steps are networked into a single computer-controlled system. From a distance, the staggered LEDs visually fuse into legible characters, words, and messages that scroll up and down the stair, crawl across its surface, and perform other dynamic motions at a variety of scales. This broadcast medium is offered to artists, writers, and curators. While unrealized, it was the predecessor to the pair of LED grand stairs at Lincoln Center.