Life Underground

The subway never ceases to amaze me. I was coming home from a concert last week at the Canal Room, so I got on the A train and took it to 14th and 8th to catch the L. I don't think I had ever been in that particular stretch of subway station, so as I walked the long and winding path to the L train, my eyes couldn't help but explore. A girl with pink hair over here, a woman eating a falafel over there and wait ... what's this ... a little bronze statue of a man with a money bag for a head?



As it turns out, there were many little statues all over the subway station; a bronze couple taking a stroll, more money bag heads, I was fascinated. I've been wondering about these little guys all weekend, so I decided to google "bronze statues at 14th and 8th," and lo and behold, they are part of a permanent art exhibit at that station called, "Life Underground," by Tom Otterness. They were commissioned by the MTA and were installed around 2000.



The pieces all follow similiar themes of corruption and an obession with money. Social commentary abounds, with one bronze police officer looking over the faceless body of a homeless truant. This piece in particular really exemplifies life underground for many people ...



Otterness also mananged to tie in functional aspects of the subway system with little statues of workers sweeping and holding oversized tools.



These pudgy little statues were a suprise to see in the subway as I was strolling along my way ... no matter where you are, there is always a form of expression where you least expect it.

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/artwork_show?21