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A Small Atlantis was a commissioned public art installation created through a grant from Main Street/Art Street. The Main Street/Art Street project provided grants to artists to create installations in vacant windows along Buffalo's downtown Main Street. A Small Atlantis was located in a window next to Shea's Buffalo. It was on display for two years until the end of the project. Below is the artist's statement that went in the window.
As the workday ends, there is a change in downtown. Not just another segment of the population, downtown's evening audience enters a different environment. Reflecting the change in an individual viewer, the imagery on the banners and within the light box changes in contrast to the change in audience. In daylight, digitally manipulated photographic imagery of daytime crowds are hidden beneath imagery of architecture and within the boxes, mirrors reflect the viewers. At night, the lighting moves the figure hidden in the banners to the foreground as the photographs of architectural elements within the boxes replace those removed from the banners. The material of the city, the streets, and buildings remain constant, but the environment and its population are transformed.  A Small Atlantis , Installation view (night), 1999 Part of the Main Street/Art Street Public Art Project Mixed Media 8 feet tall, 10 feet wide, 4 feet deep.  A Small Atlantis , Installation view (night), 1999 Part of the Main Street/Art Street Public Art Project Mixed Media 8 feet tall, 10 feet wide, 4 feet deep.  A Small Atlantis (prints), 1999 Part of the Main Street/Art Street Public Art Project Digital electrostatic pints on canvas 60 inches x 84 inches |