NEW YORK, NY.- As part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by
The Times Square Advertising Coalition and Times Square Arts, Peter Fischli and David Weiss will rescreen their famous video, Büsi (Kitty) (2001), in which a cat languidly laps milk, coolly observing us from above on Times Squares electronic billboards from 11:57 pm to midnight from February 1-29. This months project is in conjunction with the retrospective Peter Fischli David Weiss: How to Work Better, on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from February 5-April 27.
Büsi is a brief video by Peter Fischli and David Weiss, originally commissioned in 2001 by Creative Time as part of The 59th Minute project on the NBC Astrovision screen in Times Square. Fifteen years later, this cat again observes the bustle of all that surrounds it with cool detachment, lounging in the heart of our metropolis. The film is a short excerpt from Fischli and Weiss 96-hour video installation Untitled (Venice Work) (1995).
Artist Peter Fischli said, "Büsi was not made as a discussion about kitsch. There was just something super-nice about this cat that we were attracted to. . . . We were on holiday in separate places when the original invitation to put a work on the giant screen in Times Square came. But independently, we both had the same idea: why don't we show the video with the cat? To do something that's more spectacular than what's going on in Times Square would be impossible. We wanted to do something very simple and quiet: it was a logical step for us.
Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, said, Midnight Moment's inclusion of this video, which was originally shown in 2001 on one screen as part of Creative Time's 'The 59th Minute' series, amplifies the work and its importance by playing it across electronic billboards from 42nd to 49th Streets.
Sherry Dobbin, Times Square Arts Director, said, Büsi sits amongst Fischli & Weiss' explorations of the ordinary as extraordinary and the extraordinary as ordinary. This cat can easily represent the everyday triumph that any of us feel living in the density of this metropolis, taking one's time amongst the frenzy of media messaging.
Fred Rosenberg, President of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, said, TSAC is proud to show Fischli and Weiss's Büsi for Midnight Moment, as its simple subject matter demonstrates that these screens will always continue to surprise and puzzle visitors and New Yorkers alike the biggest compliment we can have is 'Did YOU see that?'