Princetonians Play Prominent Role in Sanford Biggers's Rockefeller Center Campus-Wide Takeover, Featuring "Oracle"

Sanford Biggers's take over of New York’s Rockefeller Center began on 5/5/21 with a campus-wide art installation headlined by Oracle, a monumental bronze sculpture that—standing 25 feet tall and weighing in at over 15,000 pounds—is the Harlem-based artist’s largest work to date. Mark Hines (P94) and Jordan Hines (P23) collaborated with the Artist at various stages of the creative digital process of Oracle.

Biggers first started talking with Art Production Fund ("APF"), which organized the show with New York’s Marianne Boesky Gallery, about staging a public art project over a decade ago, and the current project has been in the works for about four years. When the APF team suggested Rockefeller Center as as a possible site, Biggers was immediately enchanted.

In the coming weeks, Oracle will also begin to live up to its name with the launch of an interactive augmented reality ("AR") component, allowing viewers to consult the sculpture about their future after activating a QR code. The sculpture will be voiced by “various celebrities,” according to Biggers, although he declined to name names. The digital AR components were created by the Princetonian owned company, MASK Consortium, founded by Mark Hines (P94, P'23) and Alicia Hines (P95, P'23). MASK Consortium is a Black and Woman Owned Business Enterprise (BWBE/MWBE).

On the eve of the unveiling of Oracle, 5/4/21, Biggers met with Selwyn Hinds (P95) at Alicia Hines's (P95) new cultural hotspot "likkle Art Salon," in Brooklyn, NY, where the discussion revolved around the unveiling, and its meaning towards a broader understanding and inclusivity in art and art history.

Post unveiling of Oracle, another Princetonian owned company, Virtual Live Experiences ("VLE"/BWBE/MWBE), led by Dale Williams (P95, P'25) and Greg Battle (P93), engaged in the creation of carefully curated livestream events, which will be produced and aired through 6/19/21.

The Sanford Biggers campus-wide Rockefeller Center installation was featured in the NY Times, Arts & Culture section on 5/9/21, as well as other publications, globally.

Dates: May 5, 2021 - June 29, 2021

Location: Rockefeller Center - Promenade
Address: 45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111 USA