Times Square
History of the Site:
- Times Square was formerly named Longacre Square and it was renamed in 1904.
- The new Times Square is distinguished by the Times Square Ball drop on its roof every New Year’s Eve.
- The reputation of Times Square changed after the Great Depression in the 1930s. Residents moved uptown to cheaper neighborhoods, and many popular theaters were replaced by saloons, brothels.
- For the millennium celebration on December 31, 1999, approximately two million people overflowed Times Square.
- The location has been used in numerous films.
References:
1.VR Macbeth (November 17, 2005). “Times Square: Part of New York City History”. (C) 1980 – 2010 TimesSquare.com A Dataware Corporation Company. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
2.Edric W. Sanderson, Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, 2009: Appendix A p 253; refs. G.E. Hill and G.E. Waring Jr, “Old wells and water-courses on the isle of Manhattan”, inHistoric New York, M.W. Goodwin, A.C. Royce, and R. Putnam, 1897; and others.
3. “Times Square New York City, New York City Times Square by NYCTourist.com”.
General Photos:
Touring bus
CocaCola advertisement, XINHUA News Agency of China, Bis Bus
Led Screens full of advertisements.
Time Square is famous for led screens and billboards, all kinds of advertisement and promotions of international brands are available when you stand in the middle of time square.
Audio:
In this audio I recorded, the sound alone reminds me a lot of my home country China. Especially the noise of cars and motorcycles, peoples’ fast-pace footsteps, and salesmen’s voice all over the street. Sometimes just by seeing the Chinese characters on the led screens and listening to the crowd’s voice, I feel myself being in Shanghai or Beijing China.
Final:
People define terms differently, perhaps some people feel safer near the crowd, and some feel safer away from the bustling. The Site I chose for my portrait of home is Times Square.
First of all, Time Square is the center and the sign of NYC, it is famous for its colorful led screens and the bustling. Whenever I walk through that place, I feel like I am walking down the road of People’s Square in Shanghai, which is where my home is right now. Also, there are often Chinese advertisements and characters shown on the screens. The combination of internationality and culture reminds me so much of Shanghai.
Also, the word “home” can be defined differently to differently people, for most people “home” represents peace and safety. Ironically, Times Square is very crowded. However, personally, home is somewhere I feel being taking care of and protected, and a place I don’t feel alone. Though home is very personal and private, but I always lived near the center or the city wherever I moved to. Therefor, I prefer to be around the crowd, in another word, I would feel very strange when I live away from the center of the city. My favorite part of my memory about home is when all the relatives and friends come over to my house for celebrations and holidays. Times Square is always fulfilled with people and always feel like holiday when I go there. The feeling of being the part of the bustling reminds me of the feeling being part of the holiday celebration at home during my childhood.
Final:
In my piece, I played with warm neon colors to represents the led lights at Time Square, also the colors are soft and sweet that can remind people of home. In addition, I made these individual geometric shapes sharp and edgy to give a sense of the crowd and noise. To look at the way of the “portrait of home”, the piece represents a wall full of pointy edges that forms the protection, which is a key element in the definition of home.
