If you're wandering the streets of Downtown Boston this winter, get ready to lock eyes with...well, buildings. The public art installation "Big Other," crafted by the French-Canadian artist team Collectif Pierre&Marie, features oversized googly eyes gracing the facades of city structures, bringing an Orwellian watchfulness to urban strolling.
As part of the Downtown Boston Alliance's WINTERACTIVE art celebration, these eyes are just one piece of a larger playful puzzle set to transform the cityscape. According to the Boston Globe, six locations will host the larger-than-life peepers, including Brattle Book Shop and Hyatt Regency Boston. But it's not solely about being under the omnipresent gaze - spectators can also expect to see an out-of-this-world rocket ship perched audaciously on a rooftop above Winthrop Square.
The creators behind this eye-catching spectacle, Pierre Brassard and Marie-Pier Lebeau Lavoie, blend pop culture with social commentary, nudging us to reconsider our interactions with social media and surveillance capitalism. They've been collaborating for years, known as Pierre&Marie, and have a knack for sparking public dialogue through their art. Thanks to organizations like EXMURO, their work extends far beyond the gallery walls. A visit to winteractive.org reveals that the duo's ambition is to hold a mirror to our relationship with the increasingly invasive digital platforms.
Michael J. Nichols, the president of the Downtown Boston Alliance, couldn't help to share his excitement about the art event. He told the Boston Globe, "Install week has become one of the best weeks of the year [for] Downtown, as each day brings new artworks into view in a way that changes the look and feel of the neighborhood almost immediately." All this immersive art will be available for public enjoyment from its official launch on Wednesday, complete with a kickoff event at 55 Summer St., running until March 28.
