PIEHOLE’S CHRISTMAS MOUNTAIN

PIEHOLE’S CHRISTMAS MOUNTAIN

is In Collaboration With New Georges!

Piehole’s Christmas Mountain—an interactive “advent calendar” window display that features animatronics, embedded videos, and original music on a handcrafted diorama—appeared in December 2022 in the windows of The Greene Space at WNYC and WQXR in SoHo / Hudson Square.

The story of Christmas Mountain unfolded for passersby and viewers online at xmasmountain.com for 21 days, culminating on the Winter Solstice on December 21. (It’s still right here if you want to experience it — and you should! Web design by NG affiliated artist ruth tang!)

WNYC radio talk show host Brian Lehrer narrates the story that takes place in a snowy hamlet populated by mice at the base of Christmas Mountain, which is topped by an antenna that funnels signals from the “Christmas-sphere” into the town and onto the mice’s TVs. This year, the signal is on the fritz, and one grumpy mouse–the story’s hero–must descend to the center of the mountain to fix it so that the town can fulfill their beloved pastime of watching TV on the Winter Solstice. The clock is ticking! Along the way, our plucky hero encounters adventure at every turn, including a visit to a magical costume shop, a ride with a benevolent bus full of nuns, and broadcasts from an alternate Crust-mas dimension.

In creating this family-friendly installation—which drew inspiration from a range of Christmas traditions throughout history—Piehole brought together the work of over 20 artists from different disciplines, backgrounds and aesthetics, who convey the delightful, layered, incongruous, kitschy, profound and fraught aspects of this seemingly monolithic holiday. In Christmas Mountain, a holiday we think we know becomes a journey into the unknown.

Featured in Time Out’s Christmas Windows feature! 
Webby-nominated (Best Net Art)! Christmas Mountain: The Movie coming soon!