Channel Frederator Blog

Masstransiscope has been restored! And if you ride the NYC subway, you should go see it.

Bill Brand’s Masstransiscope was installed in the abandoned Myrtle Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, New York in September 1980. It has been seen by millions of commuters for over twenty-five years. The 228 hand-painted panels are viewed through a series of vertical slits set into a specially constructed housing. The piece works on the principle of the Zoetrope, a 19th century optical toy.

Basically, it is a series of paintings that are animated by the movement of passing trains. Creator Bill Brand also makes experimental films and video. His site is here.

To observe the beauty, take the B or Q train from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The Masstransiscope will be visible between the DeKalb Avenue stop and Manhattan. (I enjoyed seeing it every day for about a year when I worked in a jewelry factory out in Sunset Park. That, and buying Lotto tickets, were the highlights of my existence.)

Read more at the Masstransiscope blog. Thanks to Steven Heller’s The Daily Heller for the tip.

—Anne D. Bernstein