"a spontaneous ballet"

April 13, 2013 5:16 AM

James Nares' new exhibition 'Street' is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in NYC. It is an HD video of pedestrians in Manhattan, slowed way, way down. Watch 2:17 of the 61 minute piece here, and another 2:01 clip here. Villlage Voice, New York Times, Vogue, and an interview with Nares in Interview.

A Lecture by Nares at the Wadsworth Atheneum.

via Fast Company:
Super-Slow-Mo Turns NYC Streets Into Graceful Ballet and How James Nares Made An Amazing Work Of Art By Slowing Down New York City

posted by the man of twists and turns (7 comments total)

This is absolutely gorgeous. I could watch it all day. There are so many characters to be interested in and a succession of beautiful moments: the man emerging from the pole, the curve of the backpack straps, the finger raising to point. Great music for the scene too.
posted by Cuke at 5:44 AM on April 13, 2013

Seems like I've seen stuff like this before, used for effect in movies and commercials, but long-form takes the technique to new places. I'm especially mesmerized by the slow-mo capturing the otherwise all-but-invisible flickering of various light sources. Props for Thurston Moore on the music.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:48 AM on April 13, 2013

I could watch this for an embarrassingly long time (which I could make an HD time lapse of = awesome).

I've always wondered if it's possible to slow our experience of time by increasing the clock cycle of our brain (and all of its sensory systems). Do flies perceive time the same way we do, or do they move through a world like that shown in this video? And how would you even test such a thing?

Also, what's with the racquets at 1:05? Is giant tennis a thing (finally)?
posted by crumbly at 8:22 AM on April 13, 2013

I saw this at the Met and spent about an hour looking for a complete version of it afterwards (no luck, and at the museum said they didn't have any DVDs). There's a moment where a pigeon suddenly bursts into the frame and the Thurston Moore guitars soar and I heard four or five people just gasp.
posted by theodolite at 9:37 AM on April 13, 2013

Beautiful, yet just for the incogruity, too bad the bennyhillifier doesn't work with Vimeo.
posted by ShooBoo at 10:00 AM on April 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

That was much cooler than I expected. The people moving as different speeds makes it seem like the perspective is shifting in unexpected ways. May be enough to draw me across town to the met.
posted by Ad hominem at 2:04 PM on April 13, 2013

Also, what's with the racquets at 1:05? Is giant tennis a thing (finally)?

This is an advertising thing in NYC... but I can't remember what they were advertising. Obviously something to do with tennis!
posted by Jahaza at 5:19 PM on April 13, 2013