Eleven Hours of Happenings on Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in the Early 1970s

Fearing he might go blind after a virus injured his eyes, artist and poet Aldo Tambellini videotaped what was happening on the street from his apartment on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues for 11 hours in 1971 and 1972. “Atlantic in Brooklyn (1971-1972)” was last exhibited as a film in 1974 and will be exhibited “in a frieze-like installation of six life-size projections” this month at the Pierogi Gallery’s Boiler space in Williamsburg.

From the press release:

In “Atlantic in Brooklyn,” Aldo divorced performance from his “Electromedia” theater and recorded it unfolding in situ, on the streets of Brooklyn. “Atlantic in Brooklyn, noon-evening-night. Atlantic on Sunday, weekdays. Atlantic under brilliant sun. Atlantic on a windy day. Atlantic under the rain. People, cars, trucks, a hamburger stand, a bank building with a large round clock always at the hour of 10. Occasional prostitutes crossing the street, occasional pimps, drunken people in and out of bars and always the police.” The panoply of life. (Tambellini)

For the full release, see here.

Photo via Pierogi Gallery