Studies for American Idle
Audio Guide
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Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Start:
Aug 1, 2026
End:
Aug 31, 2026
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
View Public Programming
Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Start:
Aug 1, 2026
End:
Aug 31, 2026
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
View Public Programming
Studies for American Idle presents material from artist Maia Chao’s American Idle, an hour-long, site-specific performance staged on the plazas of Times Square in July 2025. Dressed as archetypal everyday pedestrians, each with an identically-dressed doppelganger, the performers carry out choreography drawn from two sources: the everyday movements of tourists in Times Square and the looping gestures of 3D figures animated in crowd-simulation software, a tool used to predict and regulate how people move through public space.
Shifting between the registers of observed and predicted movements, the work blurs the line between spontaneous action and conditioned behavior, examining how collective behavior is shaped by visibility in a site of contemporary spectacle. Under the hyperreal gaze of Times Square’s cameras and screens, experience is performed as much as it is lived, and individuality blurs into type.
As gestures from the plaza appear on billboards, the work introduces another layer of mediation, feeding source material back to its environment. Studies for American Idle explores the copy as an increasingly pervasive condition of—and threat to—contemporary life, while also tracing the human impulse to mimic, resemble, and belong.
“I was interested in how this public site of spectacle conditions how people move, look, and relate—to themselves and each other. As I observed people in the plazas, I began to notice resemblances everywhere—a sea of copies and doppelgangers.” — Maia Chao
Project Credits
Choreographer: Lena Engelstein
Cinematographer: Ty Burdenski
Performers: Aeon Andreas, Miguel Alejandro Castillo Le Maitre*, Paola Castro, Marin Day*, Naima Renèe Dobbs, Lena Engelstein, Lars Hanson, Ben Hard*, Bob Murphy, Iliana Penichet-Ramirez, Ampersand Paris*, Coco Villa. (*Devising Partner)
Makeup: Nina Carelli
Production Assistance: Ian Faria
Color: Ben Neufeld
Studies for American Idle presents material from artist Maia Chao’s American Idle, an hour-long, site-specific performance staged on the plazas of Times Square in July 2025. Dressed as archetypal everyday pedestrians, each with an identically-dressed doppelganger, the performers carry out choreography drawn from two sources: the everyday movements of tourists in Times Square and the looping gestures of 3D figures animated in crowd-simulation software, a tool used to predict and regulate how people move through public space.
Shifting between the registers of observed and predicted movements, the work blurs the line between spontaneous action and conditioned behavior, examining how collective behavior is shaped by visibility in a site of contemporary spectacle. Under the hyperreal gaze of Times Square’s cameras and screens, experience is performed as much as it is lived, and individuality blurs into type.
As gestures from the plaza appear on billboards, the work introduces another layer of mediation, feeding source material back to its environment. Studies for American Idle explores the copy as an increasingly pervasive condition of—and threat to—contemporary life, while also tracing the human impulse to mimic, resemble, and belong.
“I was interested in how this public site of spectacle conditions how people move, look, and relate—to themselves and each other. As I observed people in the plazas, I began to notice resemblances everywhere—a sea of copies and doppelgangers.” — Maia Chao
Project Credits
Choreographer: Lena Engelstein
Cinematographer: Ty Burdenski
Performers: Aeon Andreas, Miguel Alejandro Castillo Le Maitre*, Paola Castro, Marin Day*, Naima Renèe Dobbs, Lena Engelstein, Lars Hanson, Ben Hard*, Bob Murphy, Iliana Penichet-Ramirez, Ampersand Paris*, Coco Villa. (*Devising Partner)
Makeup: Nina Carelli
Production Assistance: Ian Faria
Color: Ben Neufeld
Support for Midnight Moment is provided in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and the Times Square Advertising Coalition.
Midnight Moment is made possible by the Times Square Advertising Coalition, ABC SuperSign, American Eagle, Big Outdoor, Branded Cities, Clear Channel, Coca-Cola, Diversified, Express, Heritage Outdoor Media, KEVANI, Levi's, LG, Line Friends, McDonald's, Microsoft, Midtown Financial, Morgan Stanley, New Tradition, Outfront, Paramount, Prudential, RXR, Sensory Interactive, Sephora, Sherwood Equities, Show + Tell, Silvercast, Swatch, TSX, and T-Mobile.
Broadway between 41st and 49th Streets
New York, NY
Nightly, 11:57pm – 12am
Maia Chao is an artist who works collaboratively in performance, film, and social practice. She is co-creator of the social practice project, Look at Art. Get Paid (2015-20) with Josephine Devanbu, which piloted at the RISD Museum. She has since made collaborative works with artists Ethan Philbrick, Fred Schmidt-Arenales, and Ree Bradley. Chao has created commissioned films and performances for the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, The Shed, and MoMA Education. Her work has been presented at the Bronx Museum, Cuchifritos Gallery, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Boston Center for the Arts, Tufts University Art Galleries, Smack Mellon, and Oregon Contemporary. She has completed fellowships and residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center, Pioneer Works, and Queer|Art. In 2022, she was named a Pew Fellow and in 2023, she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Based in Philadelphia, Chao is an artist-member of the art collective and DIY space, Vox Populi. She holds a BA from Brown University, and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is currently full time faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
Learn More About
Maia Chao
Maia Chao is an artist who works collaboratively in performance, film, and social practice. She is co-creator of the social practice project, Look at Art. Get Paid (2015-20) with Josephine Devanbu, which piloted at the RISD Museum. She has since made collaborative works with artists Ethan Philbrick, Fred Schmidt-Arenales, and Ree Bradley. Chao has created commissioned films and performances for the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, The Shed, and MoMA Education. Her work has been presented at the Bronx Museum, Cuchifritos Gallery, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Boston Center for the Arts, Tufts University Art Galleries, Smack Mellon, and Oregon Contemporary. She has completed fellowships and residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center, Pioneer Works, and Queer|Art. In 2022, she was named a Pew Fellow and in 2023, she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Based in Philadelphia, Chao is an artist-member of the art collective and DIY space, Vox Populi. She holds a BA from Brown University, and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is currently full time faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
Learn More About
Maia Chao
Maia Chao is an artist who works collaboratively in performance, film, and social practice. She is co-creator of the social practice project, Look at Art. Get Paid (2015-20) with Josephine Devanbu, which piloted at the RISD Museum. She has since made collaborative works with artists Ethan Philbrick, Fred Schmidt-Arenales, and Ree Bradley. Chao has created commissioned films and performances for the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, The Shed, and MoMA Education. Her work has been presented at the Bronx Museum, Cuchifritos Gallery, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Boston Center for the Arts, Tufts University Art Galleries, Smack Mellon, and Oregon Contemporary. She has completed fellowships and residencies from the Fine Arts Work Center, Pioneer Works, and Queer|Art. In 2022, she was named a Pew Fellow and in 2023, she attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Based in Philadelphia, Chao is an artist-member of the art collective and DIY space, Vox Populi. She holds a BA from Brown University, and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is currently full time faculty at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).
Learn More About
Maia Chao
