Jody Zellen

(b. 1961, Boston, MA. Lives and works in Santa Monica, CA)



Ghost City, Avenue S
http://ghostcity.com/avenue-s/

Ghost City lives. As the pandemic spread in early 2020, artist Jody Zellen began to build a new ‘neighborhood’ in her sprawling Ghost City website (www.ghostcity.com). She calls it “Avenue S.” “Suddenly the world was like a ghost town: the streets were empty, the beaches and parks closed. As we stayed at home or walked alone wearing masks, I wanted to provide an alternative experience.”

Week after week, Zellen added images, rollovers, animations, hundreds of unique webpages. “Avenue S,” she says is a poetic meditation on disconcerting times—a reflection on isolation, nature, walking, politics and protests. It is an active viewing experience. The red boxes at the bottom of each page are links to the next page, yet there are also hidden links and many surprises. “Avenue S,” states Zellen, “is meant to be a fragmentary experience, just like life today.” “Avenue S” is a maze within the pandemic and also, just possibly, a path out.