Living Windows

Local6.com is reporting that Calvin Klein has opened up the first ever living billboard in Times Square. This is not only a terrible way to sell cologne, but something that is usually only reserved for David Blaine and local arts organizations.

About 40 models are living on the side of a building as part of New York City's first-ever live billboard.
Pedestrians are able to view the models as they live in the billboard throughout the day and night. The three-story display is a new fragrance advertisement from the Calvin Klein Cosmetics Company. Pedestrians are able to view the models as they live in the billboard throughout the day and night.
Young models on the billboard have been instructed to create an illusion of a big party 24 hours a day. The billboard features music as well. The models will work through shifts through Wednesday night. They were reportedly told not to drink on the billboard or perform risque behavior.

I say "local art organizations" because the Dwellers did this almost ten years ago. We beat Calvin to the punch, and I'd say what we accomplished was at least a little more interesting than some skinny eat-and-pukes strutting their stuff for the world to see.

It was back during the early years of the Rochester-based non-profit organization the Outlet for Creativity Inc. It was from this group that the Cellar Dwellers formed, and the majority of members belonged to both. But during these early years (while I was in seventh and eighth grade) we were all trying our best to survive and promote the Arts in Beaver County, which is quite a feat if you know Beaver County.

The founder and president, John Dessler, had a great idea: live in a storefront window for a few days. Our original theater had two huge display windows that were essentially rooms with a view... from the sidewalk. And so he and Ty Patrick, another founding member of the Dwellers and the man who designed our logo, stepped in to the two windows. They took with them pads of paper, canvases, paints, markers, clay, and any other artistic media they may need. They would spend two days in there, serving as guinea pigs for the Arts. They would spend those days entertaining and enlightening passersby.

The night they stepped into their windows, a crowd of people had gathered. We planned an entire evening of events that led up to the very moment, and once they were inside we closed the entrances and watched them go. Over the following day or so I stopped by frequently, to see how they were doing and to look at the work they were creating. It was a great event that got us plenty of press, including a spot on one of the Pittsburgh news stations!

Coincidentally, the first sketch I ever had lines in was just a week later at their Comarama (Comedy-Art-Drama) show, which we wrote and produced on a weekly basis. The skit was about John and Ty living in the windows, and all of the characters they encountered. I played myself.