Paul Pfeiffer Orpheus Descending

On video monitors installed above the steady flow of pedestrian traffic, Orpheus Descending by Paul Pfeiffer (b. 1966, Honolulu, Hawaii) displays the ten-week life cycle of a flock of chickens as they hatch from their eggs and develop from day-old chicks to full-grown adults. The video is displayed in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the full duration of the birds’ 75-day life cycle. Installed in two of New York’s most definitive urban thoroughfares, the World Trade Center and the World Financial Center, Orpheus Descending opens a window onto nature, revealing the cycles of life amid the green lushness of a farmyard setting. Commuters are afforded a daily glimpse of an unfolding pastoral drama during their brief journey to and from work. The video does not require conscious engagement from its viewers, yet it is intended to be seen day after day in passing as a subliminal image.

This project was made possible with the assistance of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and The World Financial Center Arts & Events Program. Special thanks to the World Trade Center, the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, American Express, Merrill Lynch, Brookfield, and Battery Park City Authority.