Donna Dennis used the roll-down gates, the existing facade, a reconstruction of the original facade and an array of lights and sound to take the pedestrian on a visual and aural journey through time and space, using music and theater memorabilia. In the vitrines, peeled-away posters reveal announcements of performances by Beatrice Lillie and Gertrude Lawrence (whose American debuts were made here), Lawrence Olivier and Noel Coward. Songs from musicals which opened here--Gershwin's "Strike Up the Band" and Jerome Kern's "Dear Sir"--can be heard.
"There may be a burst of sound, fragments of song, voices from the distant and not so distant past and all of this will be....42nd Street, its sights and sounds." (Donna Dennis from original installation proposal.)
Artists' Biography
Over the past 20 years, Donna Dennis has presented her architectural sculpture and installations at a broad spectrum of national and international venues, including the Whitney Museum, the Tate Gallery and the Venice Biennale. She has received numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a "Bessie Award" for set design and she is known for her public art commissions, notably the decorative fence for P.S. 234 in Lower Manhattan.
History of the Site
