Information

By Lindsey Devers
:
Project Effect illuminates sidewalk sheds, and scaffolding with an overhead projector; allowing people to create personalized scenery or messages. By projecting light onto these spaces, they become no longer an eyesore (even if just for a moment) but rather a place of possibility and fun.
:
New York is a city in a state of constant rejuvenation. To know where, when, and what is changing we have become accustom to the scaffolding and sidewalk sheds which temporarily fragment a street for weeks, months, and sometimes years.
:
Over time these small semi-enclosed spaces can become a lot more than just a symbol of physical change. Lending themselves as shelters for the homeless or becoming canvases for street artists; these temporary pieces of infrastructure become something we all interact with, whether we realize it or not.
:
By projecting light onto these spaces we are not only illuminating the change that is almost constant in New York City but are also encouraging they seen as something more than a physical barrier between the present and the future. In neighborhoods experiencing an influx of development, the ability to utilize these specific spaces, and create something, even if just for a second, can instill a sense of control amongst individuals who feel their neighborhood is being remodeled by outside hands.
While Project Effect does not call for profound change it reminds people of the happiness and possibility that comes from creation, play, and color. And in doing so allows people to re-examine the physical world of their city; asking if any space is truly obsolete.