In partnership with the Metropolitan Opera and Gallery Met Shorts, Times Square Arts brings Elizabeth Peyton and Kristian Emdal’s Tantris (Young Tristan) to Times Square’s electronic billboards from 11:57 p.m. to midnight every night in September. This project is a part of Midnight Moment, a monthly presentation by The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.

September’s Midnight Moment is presented in conjunction with the opening of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera. The show will be broadcast live in Times Square on September 26, continuing an 11-year tradition, and will include Peyton and Emdal’s film during the intermission content.   This film has been commissioned by Gallery Met Shorts to accompany the HD Broadcast distribution but is being premiered as September’s Midnight Moment.

Every legend starts from somewhere. Tantris (Young Tristan) is the prologue to the romance of Tristan and Isolde, a dreamlike exploration of Tristan’s young life before he took Princess Isolde of Ireland to Cornwall to marry his uncle, King Mark, and became part of the epic love story that has been told and retold for centuries. The legend comes to life as Elias Bender Rønnenfelt portrays Tristan in abstract, atmospheric live action scenes inspired by Gottfried Von Strassburg’s 13th-century work Tristan, interspersed with historical images, Peyton’s own paintings and watercolors, and video clips. Even Isolde appears in two short clips, representing what’s still missing in Tristan’s life and foreshadowing the more familiar story yet to come.

Image courtesy of Gallery Met Shorts.

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