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Hologram Exhibit to Light Up Vacant Clock Tower Building in LIC

 The Queens-based Center for the Holographic Arts will debut its first exhibit at the former bank Friday.
Holograms Exhibit at the Long Island City Clock Tower Building
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LONG ISLAND CITY — A former bank building in Queens Plaza, vacant for decades until an arts group transformed it into a gallery last fall, is getting another artistic revival with a hologram exhibit.

The Center for the Holographic Arts will debut its first exhibit at 29-27 41st Ave. on Friday, filling the building — known for its recognizable clock tower — with the works of art, which are generated with diffracted light.

"You can create this image that’s essentially a sculpture of light," said Holocenter director Dr. Martina Mrongovius.

"We don’t have much of achance to see holograms in New York City, and we want to change that," she said.

The exhibit "Interference:Coexistence" will feature the works of hologram artists from around the world, including some pieces from the '70s and '80s.

"A lot of them are from really some of the masters in the field," Mrongovius said. "These are some seminal pieces."

The group's exhibit will be on display for a month, and then they will be headquartered out of the building's basement for the next year.

The space is being donated to the Holocenter by the building's owner, Andover Realty, through the nonprofit arts group No Longer Empty, which seeks out vacant city properties and transforms them into site specific art exhibits as a form of community engagement.

No Longer Empty ran a months-long exhibit, "How Much Do I Owe You?" at the clock tower building that ended in March, filling the site with a series of works centered around the theme of finance, value and money. That was when Mrongovius first saw the site.

"I was looking around the show, I went into the basement area and I had that feeling of like, 'You know, we could really build something here,'" she recalled.

For the past few years, the Holocenter has been using space at the Flux Factory, a Long Island City-based art collective, but many of its holograms were in storage after it lost its previous base in Court Square following the financial collapse in 2009.

"We're so excited to have a new space," Mrongovius said.

The show kicks off with an opening Friday night from 6 to 9 p.m. and will feature jazz musicians and other entertainment. Special events are planned throughout the month, including a symposium on art holography on Sept. 7, activities for kids on Sept. 14, and an experimental music night on Sept. 21.

The Holocenter's "Interference:Coexistence," will be on view Sept. 6 through Sept. 28 at 29-27 41st Ave. in Long Island City. Regular exhibit hours will be Wednesdays through Saturdays from 2 to 6 p.m. A full schedule of special events can be found here.