Stories. Spanning Stories.
Lift your story to new heights.
Transcend the ordinary.
Elevate your vision.
Motivate communities.
Projection Art.
Black As Light
JArts | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Words are magic. It never ceases to amaze us that little black lines, bent into letters, and organized on a page can transport us - through time, in and out of felt experience and into other peoples shoes.
We are striving to harness some of that energy in “Black as Light”. The racial scars in this country are deep and long. And our path to a more just society is complicated. But that begins when a person looks across the divide and can recognize the humanity of someone on the other side.
In “Black as Light” we are asking people to stop and consider another point of light in the constellation of black perspective as captured by Porsha Olayiwola, Boston’s poet laureate. But instead of framing her poetry with the printed page, we wanted to see what would happen if we transform black lines into light and read it together, as a community. How does it change the reader’s experience when words about race are embraced and emblazoned on the walls of prestigious institution like the Boston’s Museum of Fine Art?
We were commission by JArts for the 2020 Hanukah season. And to dive deeper into the 2020 theme of “Brighter Connected” we chose to make Porsha’s words flicker as if they’re being illuminated by menorah light. And they are. The dynamic light and color used in the font is from video of a candle, flickering in the dark. When Orthodox Jews pray they often rock back and forth. It is called davening. And it is said that in doing so they are an embodiment of flame. We love that image.
This is our flickery little prayer in the darkness, and belief that we are indeed, Brighter Connected.
“The Others” (Boston #StandsWithImmigrants)
is an internationally recognized public art project conceived of and executed by Anthem's core team. The project emblazons Boston with the faces of immigrants, highlighting their contributions and showing the world we stand with them in solidarity.
We believe the portraits are a beautiful and dignified response to an intensifying climate of fear and exclusion - one that will encourage conversation, reassure the world of our humanity, raise public consciousness and help move the needle at a policy level.
In the face of threats to our democracy, we answer - With love. With thoughtful reproach.
WITH ART.
More about the project can be found at www.standswithimmigrants.org
All of the images below are photographs of actual living projections, captured in-camera without manipulation in Photoshop.
Semyon Dukach | Russia Angel Investor with OneWay Ventures
Jennis Perez | Cuba Cleaner - Projected on the Old State House
Haseeb Hosein | Trinidad Captain, Boston Police Department - Projected on the Lee School in the B-3 Police District where he works.
Jennifer Hyoje-Ryu Kenty | South Korea Farmer - Projected on a barn in Concord, MA
Eva Millona | Albania - Executive Director, Mass. Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
WILFRED MBAH | CAMEROON - Alderman-at-Large, City of Somerville
YO-YO MA | FRANCE - Cellist
DR. PARDIS SABETI, IRAN - Computational biologist | Broad Institute
DAVID ORTIZ | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Retired Red Sox Slugger and First Baseman
DAVID LEONARD, IRELAND - President | Boston Public Library
LINDA DORCENA FORRY, HAITIAN - Vice President of Diversity, Suffolk Construction and former Massachusetts State Senator representing 1st Suffolk District
JIRAYUT "NEW" LATTHIVONGSKORN, THAILAND - "Dreamer" and Medical School Student | Harvard School of Public Health
U-MELENI MHLABA-ADEBO | ZIMBABWE - Artist, Performer, Educator
NANO RAIES, SYRIA - Student/Musician | Berklee College of Music
THAER ABDALLAH | IRAQ - Artist, Human Rights Activist
THI THI AYE, BURMA - Garment Industry Supervisor | Brooks Brothers
MOHAMAD ALI, GUYANA - CEO | Carbonite
DANIEL BOJORQUEZ - Chef and Co-owner | La Brasa
Boston Red Sox
#DoDamage Campaign
In 2018, the Boston Red Sox set a club record 108 regular season wins. To commemorate the incredible year, celebrate the players and pump up the city for the post season, the Red Sox commissioned Anthem to project highlights from big wins onto public spaces throughout Boston and Cambridge.
Fenway Park, Boston
Video Highlights
Central Square, Cambridge
Video Highlights
Boston Common
Video Highlights
Lower Mills, Dorchester
Video Highlights
Old State House, Boston
Video Highlights
Background
In 1992, 1700 of the worlds leading scientist including the majority of Nobel Laureates in the sciences issued their first Warning to Humanity:
Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about.
Twenty-five years since, their warning has largely gone unheeded and we remain on a perilous trajectory. We have failed to make progress in solving these foreseen environmental challenges, and alarmingly, most of them are getting worse
Among the many sobering facts, there is one stands out: We are witnessing a mass extinction event, the sixth in roughly 540 million years. As many as half of our current life forms could be annihilated or committed to extinction by the end of this century.
Like most environmental threats this one is difficult for people to grasp. The danger we face feels theoretical and slow-moving, even though the damage is a tsunami of change in geological terms.
This project attempts to bring the immediacy of our challenges to the fore – to transport the species we are killing out of the wild and our imaginations into our city and public consciousness.
Installation Overview
Vanish is a partnership between Erik Jacobs and Joel Sartore/The Photo Ark. The Photo Ark consists of vivid photos and video of over 10,000 species of animals. Not just animals in the wild. Rather, lions and wolves, mice and beetles taken in a studio - photographed on clean backdrops and controlled lighting - so that every unique detail is honored. Every animal, no matter how meek or mighty, is given equal attention, as each is equally valuable in the function of a healthy ecosystem.
To bring these beautiful creatures to life we’re turning this body of work into a living, breathing, interactive installation. To illustrate their ephemeral and endangered lives, we are using state-of-the-art, cinema-grade technology to project them onto vanishing clouds of fog. As the fog fills the installation space, the animals will appear – haunting, mysterious and undeniably present. Then, as winds change and people interact with the “screen” the fog will dissipate and the animals will disappear.
Goals
Whether on a local, regional, or planetary scale, Earth’s vanishing biodiversity is an undeniable cause for concern. We hope to confront people with the immediacy of this threat and show them what we stand to lose if we don’t act now.
“An ark is, above all, a vessel to save flesh-and-blood creatures. This one is constructed to lift many from obscurity and rescue many more from indifference.” – Joel Sartore/National Geographic
The good news is that there is still time, and this project seeks to inform people what we can do to save these unique creatures — and ultimately, ourselves.
About the Artists
Erik Jacobs is a visual storyteller dedicated to producing compelling messages in any medium (photos, videos, well-grown food...) with a particular yen for work that connects us to each other and deepens our connection to the natural environment.
He believes that creativity can give elegant, human and delightful answers to the most complex problems in the world.
Photography: http://www.jacobsphotographic.us
Recent Public Art: http://www.standswithimmigrants.org
Joel Sartore is an award-winning photographer, speaker, author, conservationist, and the 2018 National Geographic Explorer of the Year. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic Magazine, and an Eagle Scout. His hallmarks are a sense of humor and a Midwestern work ethic.
Rare Disease Day
Cambridge BioMarketing
Rare Disease Day is celebrated each year on the last day of February to promote awareness, raise money for research, and bring communities together to recognize the support that numbers can provide. For Rare Disease Day 2019, the Faces of Rare project decided to put rare diseases on a grand scale, literally. Anthem was commissioned to photograph and project subjects living with a rare disease on the side of Boston City Hall Plaza to raise awareness for rare diseases and get the general public involved in the conversation. More from this campaign can be found here.
The African American Trail Project
Tufts University
The African American Trail Project is a collaborative public history initiative housed at Tufts University. Originally inspired by the scholarship of Tufts Professor Gerald R. Gill (1948-2007) and driven by faculty and student research, this campaign maps African American and African-descended public history sites across greater Boston, and throughout Massachusetts. Anthem is collaborating with Tufts’ Center for the Study of Race and Democracy to amplify the project’s goals to develop African American historical memory and intergenerational community, placing present-day struggles for racial justice in the context of greater Boston’s historic African American, Black Native, and diasporic communities.
Madonna| Live Nation
“Madame X” Tour
Live nation commissioned Anthem Multimedia to help promoted a series “underplays” (special performances in small venues) celebrating the release of Madonna’s new album, Madame X. Anthem designed and produced the installations to be reflective of the rare opportunity to see the artist in a uniquely intimate environment.
