In conjunction with Nora Turato’s performance "Cue The Sun" for the 2023 Performa Biennial, MTA Arts & Design and Performa co-present a series of digital graphics by the artist at Fulton Center. The digital graphics—in the form of short pieces of text taken from the performance script, that Turato describes as “signs from the universe”—explores the cumulative anxiety borne out of the phenomena of self-optimization. "Cue The Sun", draws from the methodology of wellness gurus, personal development coaching and other self-improvement principles to consider what it means to create a personal ideology of betterment via language, gesture, and performance today—to dissect the effort of transforming one’s self from the inside out, performing one’s self optimal version, and the inner anxiety that is mirrored in the attempt to achieve it.

As a visual anchor to the work, Turato has created bold new graphics that incorporate an original typeface produced specifically for the commission. Inspired by the serif fonts of the Industrial Age, the typeface echoes a historical moment that was a time of radical social transformation. Turato was formally trained as a graphic designer which informs her interest in typography, specifically its ability to influence the viewer subconsciously: a change in typeface signals a change in messaging on an intuitive level that may not be actively perceptible to many people.

More information about the project and performance can be found on Performa’s website. 

"Cue The Sun" plays for 2 minutes at the top of each hour throughout Fulton Center until December 2023, presented with technical support from Westfield Properties and ANC Sports.