Life Underground
by: ana
If you’ve ever been to the New York City subway, you know that underground NYC is a dark and scary place. There are stalactites forming on the ceilings of each station and mysterious smells oozing out of every corner. Each station looks pretty much the same and is covered in an ashy layer of soot that reminds me of the chimney sweep scene in Mary Poppins. In comparison to other cities like London and Washington, DC, the NYC stations are ugly places that I refuse to spend more time in than I absolutely have to.
However, as I was transferring trains at the 8th Ave/14th St. Station, I had to stop and whip my camera out. Around every corner were cute bronze sculptures of people and animals that had an unmistakable resemblance to the top hat-wearing man on each box of Monopoly. Underneath a stairwell, a tiny yet plump man wearing a top hat clutches a pile of pennies to his chest while a tiny peasant woman tries to take one from him. On the ground next to him, an upset policeman stands on a spilled bag of money. Nearby, an alligator comes out of a sewer and swallows a Monopoly person with a moneybag for a face. In another part of the subway station, a Monopoly man is sneaking under an emergency exit door, trying to get a free ride, but a policeman greets him on the other side.
This clever yet easy-to-miss urban art was created by artist Tom Otterness in 2001 and is titled “Life Underground”. I personally would have names in “Monopoly”, but that may have been too blatant of a hint at the message Otterness was trying to convey.
The golden patina of he bronze sculptures could possibly allude to the Gilded Age of the 1860’s under President Grant’s administration when corruption was high and government regulation was nonexistent. What do you think “Life Underground” means? The way you interpret art is a reflection of you and your experiences (you can see how my US History class affected my answer!).
Tags: Bronze Sculpture, Life Underground, NYC Subway, Pennies, Tom Otterness
The project, is funded as part of PNC Arts Alive, a five-year, $5 million investment from The PNC Foundation that supports visual and performing arts groups with the goal of increasing arts access and engagement.
I’ll check them out next time in New York.
That’s the coolest subway station I’ve ever seen.
akkRzcwqzshwluktixgagzYfjoktgji
haha. hm, masyado to pambata. of course animated to! hindi to harry potter effects!
What i don’t realize is in fact how you are now not really much more well-liked than you may be right now. You are very intelligent. You realize therefore considerably in relation to this matter, made me for my part consider it from numerous varied angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated unless it’s one thing to do with Woman gaga! Your own stuffs great. At all times deal with it up!
‘Thank you for this particular blog. That’s all I can say. You most definitely have made this kind of weblog into something thats eye opening and important. You clearly know so much about the subject, youve covered so a lot of bases. Great stuff from this kind of part of the internet. Again, thank you for this particular weblog.”
We’re a bunch of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable info to paintings on. You have done a formidable task and our whole community will likely be grateful to you.