Is the Barclays Center oculus on the fritz? Just a refresh. Unclear if ads will resume (though I wouldn't bet against it).

June 7

As I've written, on June 7, the tenth day of #blacklivesmatter protests coalescing at the Barclays Center, arena operators replaced the standard (but by then discordant) series of oculus advertisements with a gnomic quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.: "The time is always right to do what is right."

But mass protests have died down.

So maybe the urgency of the moment for the oculus has faded. Or maybe it's routine maintenance.

Either way, the oculus looked pretty odd two days ago, when I tweeted the photo below of the digital lettering fuzzed into oblivion, suggesting the oculus was on the fritz.

July 12, morning

"The Oculus has been going through a refresh and we are in the calibration phase," arena spokeswoman Mandy Gutmann told me yesterday. "It will be completed this week."

Will the quote return? Will advertising resume? She didn't answer that question. (Maybe a hybrid?)

If ads return, I wouldn't be surprised--the Barclays Center is an awkward mix between corporate imperative and publicly accessible space. And it hasn't been earning event revenue during the pandemic. (That said, the operating company is owned by a billionaire.)

Yesterday, the image went from fuzzier, below, to blank. That persists this morning.

July 13, morning

July 13, afternoon