NEW YORK, NY.- MTA Arts & Design is pleased to announce Infinite Orbits, a new digital artwork by New York-based artist Carter Hodgkin, is now on view at the Fulton Transit Center in Lower Manhattan. Infinite Orbits is an abstract visualization of energy. The coding-derived animations transform the complex into a fleeting, immersive environment. Colorful swirls dance across the 52 screens throughout Fulton Center and the Dey Street pedestrian tunnel, connecting multiple New York City Transit lines and the World Trade Center PATH station. The digital artwork is displayed for two minutes at the top of every hour.

Hodgkin’s practice fuses art, science, and technology to explore a new language of abstraction. Approaching the modification of code as a drawing tool, she generates atomic particle collisions to create animated forms which visualize energy. Applying this process to her site-specific commission for Fulton Center, the spiral shapes draw upon the transit hub’s unique architecture as well as the circulating paths of travelers in the subway system. The title also references commuting, as the trains and riders repeat their paths day after day.

“MTA Arts & Design is delighted to present this new artwork by Carter Hodgkin,” says Sandra Bloodworth, Director, MTA Arts & Design. “The artist, a long-time resident of Lower Manhattan, considered those who use the Fulton Center complex regularly, and infused across its many screens a sense of wonder. This mesmerizing animation engages at the micro and macro level to create for our riders another dimension within this immense space.”

Amidst this repetitive behavior and the hurry many commuters find themselves in, Infinite Orbits offers a sense of calm. The animation slows time; particles emerge gradually and form pathways then dissolve into the background again. The captivating circular motion evokes celestial and microscopic universes and the sublime, a welcome contrast to the busy transit environment.

“Having lived near Fulton Street and the World Trade Center for 43 years, my animations for the Fulton Center were made with my neighborhood in mind,” says artist Carter Hodgkin. “I wanted to create lively imagery inspired by the transit hub’s unique architecture, and that would engage and potentially delight fellow passengers on their way to and from work or play.”

Infinite Orbits is presented by the award-winning Digital Art program administered by MTA Arts & Design and will be on display at Fulton Center through March 2024. The Fulton Transit Center network synchronizes 52 digital video screens, totaling more than 3,000 square feet. The MTA Arts & Design Digital Art program is presented with technical support from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and ANC.

CARTER HODGKIN

Carter Hodgkin is a New York-based artist who fuses digital and traditional media, working across painting, animation, and large-scale mosaic. Hodgkin holds a B.F.A. in Painting & Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University Hodgkin and has exhibited in the United States, Europe and Asia. Her work appears in public and private collections including the Stanford University Art Collection, the ZKM Center for Art & Media, the Zimmerli Art Museum, the Basil Alkazzi Foundation, the U.S. Art in Embassies Program and the Library of Congress. Articles and reviews of her work have appeared in such publications as Artforum, Art in America, Flash Art, Artbyte and The New Yorker. Awards include the Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation (2012, 2005), the Pollock Krasner Foundation (2002) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (2009, 2002, 1989).