Masstransiscope (1980) by Bill Brand

This piece is located in the Myrtle Avenue subway station, which was once a stop on the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit line between Manhattan Bridge and DeKalb Avenue. The disused station was converted into an artwork in 1980 by Bill Brand. Restored in 2008, Masstransiscope is now include in the permanent collection of Arts for Transit.

Each of the thirty foot high images is viewed through narrow slits. The movement of the train creates the correct tempo for fusing the individual elements into a motion sequence, using the principle of the zoetrope. This may be seen as the opposite of a motion picture. Instead of the audience being still and the images moving, the images stay still and the viewer moves laterally past them.

This idea has subsequently been taken up for advertising on other subway systems, including Tokyo.

This ad for a commercial product demonstrates how the original zoetrope functions.

Contemporary phenakistiscopes

This video shows simulated phenakistiscopes, created in 3DS Max. The video below shows a physical phenakistiscope, by artist Elly Stern.

A phenakistiscope consists of a cardboard disk that can be spun on a central axis. Arrayed around the disc are still images designed to be seen in sequence. When the correct angular velocity is reached, these appear to fuse into smooth motion. Key to this process is a frame through which each image is seen. 

Invented by Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau in 1833, this simple device anticipated the zoetrope and other early animation techniques.

Charon (2011) by Peter Hudson

A gigantic 30’ spinning wheel with posed human skeletons mounted on its inner edge, Charon is fully powered by a minimum of 12 people working in unison. Onlookers are invited to pull a series of 6 ropes which cause the wheel to rotate progressively faster. When the rope pullers are coordinated enough to get the wheel spinning at the correct speed, a strobe is activated, revealing the skeletons’ animation.

The animation tells the story of Charon, the mythological gondolier and ferryman of Hades who carried the souls of the recently departed across the river styx, the last right of passage on the way to the afterlife. This piece debuted at Burning Man, 2011.

artist website

This is an example of a three-dimensional zoetrope. Invented around 1833, a zoetrope works on the basis of presenting to the eye still images that, when taken in sequence, appear to animate. The original method involves images printed or drawn on the inner surface of a cylinder. As this rotates, a slit constrains the field of vision. At the correct speed, the illusion of motion results.