Leap
Chris Doyle
April 27 - 30, 2000
Columbus Circle
Photo © 2000 Nadia Todres
A celebration of hope, Leap was a video documenting various New Yorkers from all five boroughs jumping skyward and projected onto a sixty-foot building in Columbus Circle. Beginning at dusk on four nights in April, a continuous stream of New Yorkers appeared at the base of 2 Columbus Circle. One by one, four hundred and twenty jumpers soared up the height of the facade, slipping into the night sky. Transforming a moment of play into an event, Leap stood in bold opposition to the advertising billboard and its dependence on use-value. “Leap was shaped by its participants; each person who chose to be part of the project joined an effort to assert their common stake in the city and its public spaces,” said creator Chris Doyle. After jumping, each participant was asked to talk about his or her individual aspirations and desires. Quotes from these interviews were used in a series of artist-designed ads that appeared on MTA subways, making visible the subway’s role in linking our neighborhoods and the Leap participants.
