Announcement

Emerson College’s platform for presenting contemporary visual art, Emerson Contemporary, presents a pop-up Digital Art Drive-in movie theater experience featuring contemporary digital, video, and light art on Friday, August 14, 8:30 p.m. outside at Salem State University. The event features a 90-minute screening of experimental new works by a variety of regional media and video artists and a selection of six independent light projections.

The drive-in takes place in conjunction with AREA CODE – New England’s first art fair dedicated exclusively to regional artists – and in collaboration with the North Shore’s Creative Collective, Salem State University Center for Creative and Performing Arts, and City of Salem. The evening event is sponsored by LuminArtz, a non-profit organization that highlights local and regional artists who create innovative light art experiences.

The event is curated by Dr. Leonie Bradbury, Distinguished Curator-in Residence at Emerson College. Emerson Contemporary’s Exhibitions Manager Jim Manning serves as the Manager of Digital Content and Pamela Hersch of LuminArtz is the Technical Director of the event. The one-night experience is organized in partnership with John Andrews of Creative Collective, an organization that works to support and provide opportunities to the creative workforce across the North Shore. Special thanks to the City of Salem and Mayor Kimberley Driscoll for supporting this project and the creative community.

Location and Details: O'Keefe Sports Complex, 225 Canal Street, Salem State University, Salem, MA. The event is projected on screens and buildings in the parking lot. The space opens at 7:30 p.m.; the event is free, but tickets are required.

A complete list of works on view is available, as well as select press images.

The drive-in screening offers a wide selection of artistic content, ranging from abstract glitch art, computer generated rhythms and sounds, and Zoom karaoke, to moving personal testimonials and critical, documentary short films. Artists include: Sarah Brophy and Katherine Chin, Lana Z. Caplan, Will Close, Derek Curry and Jennifer Gradecki, Aubrie Flanigan, Keaton Fox, Julia Hechtman, Janne Hoeltermann, Ania Garcia LLorente, Masary Studios and Urbanity Dance, Frank Mauceri, Julian Parikh, Jak Ritger, Allison Maria Rodriguez, Tyler Selfridge, Maria Servellon, Catherine Siller and Eric Rosenbaum, Gina Siepel, Daniel Smith, Süpernørmål, Allison Tanenhaus and Maria Finkelmeier, Paul Turano, Margaret Wiss, Yu-Wen Wu, and Weird Allan Kaprow.

In addition to the drive-in screening, AREA CODE will display six independent light projections created by Liz Nofziger, Maria Servellon, Zsuzsanna Szegedi, Ellen Wetmore, and Stephanie Benenson’s “Harbor Voices,” to be showcased directly onto the walls of Salem State University’s O’Keefe Sports Complex. Their selections will be accompanied by a creative light installation on the glass facade of the complex by light artist Joey Nicotera of Retonica.

Wall with a digital projection that reads, "Gracias Heroes de Primera Linea"

About AREA CODE

AREA CODE is an inaugural art fair presenting work by contemporary artists with ties to New England. Informed by values of collective intelligence, transparent experimentation, and open access in the wake of COVID-19, the Fair has been developed in collaboration with a volunteer team of Boston-area curators, and will be free for exhibitors and viewers. Through online and decentralized in-person experiences across Boston, the Fair will feature works from New England’s most inspiring art galleries, nonprofit organizations, and individual artists (including recent graduate students) without gallery representation. Along with the Fair’s Main Section, AREA CODE will debut curated sections of performance art, drive-in or drive-by outdoor presentations of digital/video art, and storefront displays, along with live programming.

About the College

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has 3,780 undergraduates and 670 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 90 student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic as well as its new Global Portals, with the first opening last fall in Paris. The College has an active network of 51,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit Emerson.edu.