Shedding Some Light on an Abandoned Building at 82 S. Main

Terance Brown and Robin Salant

I’ve got a mini-feature in this week’s issue of The Memphis Flyer about artists Robin Salant and Terance Brown who are turning the abandoned building at 82 S. Main into an interactive, multi-story art installation. Instead of repeating that story here, I’ll link it as soon as it comes on line. (LINK) But here’s the short version.
Salant and Brown want to give the empty building a pulse. More than that, they want that pulse to respond to external stimulus, like an actual human heartbeat.
It’s great to watch how projects like “Urban Meridians” and Salant’s previous solar-powered work at Sears Crosstown, can capture imaginations and change the way people think about and respond to big, empty spaces. It’s also fun going into old buildings before they’re revitalized, just to see what’s left over from its previous lives.
This Friday night at 8:30 Salant and Brown will flip the switch on “Urban Meridians,” and 82 S. Main will start working hard to get your attention by lighting up, throbbing with light, and mysteriously knocking against its own ground floor windows (thanks to industrial fans and ball-pit balls). In the meantime, here are a handful of images from inside one of Main Street’s empty containers