![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness9.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
When I was in New York, I saw a pretty delightful (and slightly subversive) piece of public art in the subway stations where the A,C and E lines intersect with the L line. This is Life Underground by Tom Otterness. Instead of being one big piece, it consists of a bunch of little pieces spread throughout the two stations. The subversive aspect is that it features these little top-hatted figures with money-bags for faces who are alternately oppressing other figures (workers and beggars) or being eaten by alligators. The workers are shown building things but also sawing at the I-beams that support the ceilings.
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness10.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness8.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness7.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness6.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness5.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness4.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness3.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness2.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
![Life Underground by Tom Otterness](http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/RWBoyd_2009/2012%20blog/Otterness1.jpg)
Tom Otterness, Life Underground, 2001, bronze
I passed through these stations twice. It's a very busy interchange. But what I noticed was that despite the fact that these little bronze statues are everywhere, people weren't looking at them. Only I, the obvious tourist with a camera, seemed to notice them. And why should everyday commuters notice them--they've seen them hundreds of times. The first few times they might register, but after a while they become part of the background noise.
I think this a problem with transit-oriented art. It's guaranteed to eventually become invisible to the very people it was created for. For example, how many people driving on I-45 through downtown Houston notice the Buffalo Bayou Torches by Paul Kittleson? I don't know if there is a solution--it may be that this art always exists to be seen the first time you pass it, but not so much every subsequent time.
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Have you ever seen the Tom Otterness sculpture at "Central Park" in The Woodlands? There's a happy couple dancing on a bag of money. He's a pretty surreal choice for a park in a new urbanist shopping center in a middle to upper class suburb.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check that out!
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