Empire Drive-In

Empire Drive-In

New York Hall of Science, 2013

Empire Drive-In is a full-scale theater made out of junked cars and a 40-foot screen constructed of salvaged wood. Audiences climb in and out of cars rescued from the junkyard to watch films projected on the big screen. Low-power radio transmits stereo audio directly to each car. 

Empire Drive-In asks a series of questions about cars, car culture, and creative reuse, and then invites audiences to be a part of this conversation. The films and performances programmed reflect the themes of the overall project, and every element, from the glowing marquee to the personal items left in the salvaged cars, offers an opportunity to re-examine mass entertainment, easy nostalgia, and why we still want to experience the spectacle of cinema together.

Empire Drive-In was first created by Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark to screen Chandler's Flood Tide: Remixed, an expanded cinema piece with a live score by Dark Dark Dark. Empire Drive-In was commissioned in 2012 by the Abandon Normal Devices Festival in Manchester, UK, and again in 2013 by the New York Hall of Science in Queens.

more: http://empiredrivein.com

Photo: Tod Seelie

Empire Drive-In

Empire Drive-In

New York Hall of Science, 2013

Empire Drive-In is a full-scale theater made out of junked cars and a 40-foot screen constructed of salvaged wood. Audiences climb in and out of cars rescued from the junkyard to watch films projected on the big screen. Low-power radio transmits stereo audio directly to each car. 

Empire Drive-In asks a series of questions about cars, car culture, and creative reuse, and then invites audiences to be a part of this conversation. The films and performances programmed reflect the themes of the overall project, and every element, from the glowing marquee to the personal items left in the salvaged cars, offers an opportunity to re-examine mass entertainment, easy nostalgia, and why we still want to experience the spectacle of cinema together.

Empire Drive-In was first created by Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark to screen Chandler's Flood Tide: Remixed, an expanded cinema piece with a live score by Dark Dark Dark. Empire Drive-In was commissioned in 2012 by the Abandon Normal Devices Festival in Manchester, UK, and again in 2013 by the New York Hall of Science in Queens.

more: http://empiredrivein.com

Photo: Tod Seelie

Empire Drive-In

Empire Drive-In

Abandon Normal Devices, Manchester, UK, 2012

Empire Drive-In is a full-scale theater made out of junked cars and a 40-foot screen constructed of salvaged wood. Audiences climb in and out of cars rescued from the junkyard to watch films projected on the big screen. Low-power radio transmits stereo audio directly to each car. 

Empire Drive-In asks a series of questions about cars, car culture, and creative reuse, and then invites audiences to be a part of this conversation. The films and performances programmed reflect the themes of the overall project, and every element, from the glowing marquee to the personal items left in the salvaged cars, offers an opportunity to re-examine mass entertainment, easy nostalgia, and why we still want to experience the spectacle of cinema together.

Empire Drive-In was first created by Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark to screen Chandler's Flood Tide: Remixed, an expanded cinema piece with a live score by Dark Dark Dark. Empire Drive-In was commissioned in 2012 by the Abandon Normal Devices Festival in Manchester, UK, and again in 2013 by the New York Hall of Science in Queens.

more: http://empiredrivein.com

Photo: Carl Sukonik

Empire Drive-In

Empire Drive-In

01SJ Biennial, San Jose, California, 2010

Empire Drive-In is a full-scale theater made out of junked cars and a 40-foot screen constructed of salvaged wood. Audiences climb in and out of cars rescued from the junkyard to watch films projected on the big screen. Low-power radio transmits stereo audio directly to each car. 

Empire Drive-In asks a series of questions about cars, car culture, and creative reuse, and then invites audiences to be a part of this conversation. The films and performances programmed reflect the themes of the overall project, and every element, from the glowing marquee to the personal items left in the salvaged cars, offers an opportunity to re-examine mass entertainment, easy nostalgia, and why we still want to experience the spectacle of cinema together.

Empire Drive-In was first created by Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark to screen Chandler's Flood Tide: Remixed, an expanded cinema piece with a live score by Dark Dark Dark. Empire Drive-In was commissioned in 2012 by the Abandon Normal Devices Festival in Manchester, UK, and again in 2013 by the New York Hall of Science in Queens.

more: http://empiredrivein.com

Photo: Tod Seelie

YOLO

YOLO
True/False, Columbia, MO, 2017
Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark

YOLO turns the drive-in cinema inside out, transforming late model junk cars into a public screening environment. The screens -- the car windows -- feature 100 clips from Hollywood films of cars driving off of cliffs, one crash feeding into another in an absurd and hypnotic American elegy. 

Empire Drive-In: Single Car Cinema

Empire Drive-In: Single Car Cinema

2013
Headscapes, Long Island City, New York
Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark

Empire Drive-In: Single Car Cinema

Empire Drive-In: Single Car Cinema

2013
Headscapes, Long Island City, New York
Todd Chandler and Jeff Stark

Building Something Bigger

Sculpture and assembly collaboration with Brent Green and Rooftop Films for their 2013 season trailer. 

Directed by Mark Elijah Rosenberg
Cinematography by Wyatt Garfield
 

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

At MASS MoCA members of the Miss Rockaway Armada transformed the Hunter Center Mezzanine into a dynamic, interactive space using materials salvaged from MASS MoCA’s campus.

more: http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=370

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

At MASS MoCA members of the Miss Rockaway Armada transformed the Hunter Center Mezzanine into a dynamic, interactive space using materials salvaged from MASS MoCA’s campus.

more: http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=370

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

At MASS MoCA members of the Miss Rockaway Armada transformed the Hunter Center Mezzanine into a dynamic, interactive space using materials salvaged from MASS MoCA’s campus.

more: http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=370

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

At MASS MoCA members of the Miss Rockaway Armada transformed the Hunter Center Mezzanine into a dynamic, interactive space using materials salvaged from MASS MoCA’s campus.

more: http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=370

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

Being Here is Better than Wishing We'd Stayed

At MASS MoCA members of the Miss Rockaway Armada transformed the Hunter Center Mezzanine into a dynamic, interactive space using materials salvaged from MASS MoCA’s campus.

more: http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=370

Miss Rockaway Armada

Miss Rockaway Armada

The Miss Rockaway Armada was a collective of artists, performers, musicians, cooks, travelers, and organizers that built and navigated sculptural junk rafts down the Mississippi River staging performances during the summers of 2006-07. This voyage led to two more raft projects spearheaded by the artist Swoon:  Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea (Hudson River, 2008) and the Swimming Cities of Serenissima (Venice, 2009).

more:
http://missrockaway.org
http://swimmingcities.org

Miss Rockaway Armada

Miss Rockaway Armada

The Miss Rockaway Armada was a collective of artists, performers, musicians, cooks, travelers, and organizers that built and navigated sculptural junk rafts down the Mississippi River staging performances during the summers of 2006-07. This voyage led to two more raft projects spearheaded by the artist Swoon:  Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea (Hudson River, 2008) and the Swimming Cities of Serenissima (Venice, 2009).

more:
http://missrockaway.org
http://swimmingcities.org

Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea

Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea

The Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea was a project led by the artist Swoon in 2008. A group of artists, performers, musicians, cooks, travelers, and organizers built and navigated sculptural junk rafts, designed by Swoon, down the Hudson River from Troy, New York, to Long Island City, staging performances along the way.

Theater performance directed by Lisa D'Amour. Music by Dark Dark Dark.

more:
http://swimmingcities.org

photo: Tod Seelie

Swimming Cities of Serenissima

Swimming Cities of Serenissima

The Swimming Cities of Serenissima was a project led by the artist Swoon. A group of artists and performers navigated a fleet of sculptural rafts across the Adriatic Sea from Slovenia to Venice, Italy in 2009. After crossing the Adriatic the Swimming Cities 'crashed' the Venice Biennale, staging a series of performances around the island.

more:
http://swimmingcities.org

 

photo: Tod Seelie