Life Underground
Encyclopedia
Life Underground is a permanent public art
work created by American
sculptor Tom Otterness
for the 14th Street – Eighth Avenue station ( trains) of the New York City Subway
. It was commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
's Arts for Transit program for US$200,000 — one percent of the station's reconstruction budget. This program has commissioned more than 170 permanent works of art for public transportation facilities the MTA owns and operates. This work is one of the most popular artworks in the subway system.
The installation is a series of whimsical miniature bronze sculptures depicting cartoon like characters showing people and animals in various situations, and additional abstract sculptures, which are dispersed throughout the station platforms and passageways. Otterness said the subject of the work is "the impossibility of understanding life in New York" and describes the arrangement of the individual pieces as being “scattered in little surprises.” Art critic Olympia Lambert wrote that "the lovable bronze characters installed there are joined together by a common theme of implied criminality mixed with an undercurrent of social anarchy," but labeled them as "too cute", saying that this "undercuts the work's more critical edge." Many of the figures have moneybag heads, and Otterness credits 19th century political cartoonist Thomas Nast
's depiction of Boss Tweed
and the corruption of Tammany Hall
that was ongoing at the time of the subway's initial construction as his inspiration for these.
One of the larger pieces depicts a sewer alligator
, as described by reporter Michael Rundle: "There is a bronze alligator on the Eighth Avenue and 14th Street subway platform, wearing a suit and tie. A 10 inches (254 mm)-high bronze man — also wearing a suit and tie — is struggling to escape his powerful jaws. Watching the scene, aside from throngs of L train riders, is another 10 inches (254 mm) figure. He stands beside his stricken friend, hands clasped behind his back, as if to say: 'I told you not to get so close'.” Otterness' sculpture has been praised for its appeal to all ages. The New York Times
published a 2003 account describing the interaction of a 4-year old boy with the sewer alligator. After jumping on the alligator's head and trying to wrestle the little man from his bronze jaws, the observer notes that the boy, "about to give up, he kicked the alligator, his foot connecting solidly with the bronze head. Surprise spread across his face as he ran away, crying, 'Mom, it tried to bite me!'."
Otterness became so obsessed with this project, that he delivered more than four times the amount of artwork he was originally commissioned to produce. His wife finally made him end expansion of the collection by imploring him to stop "giving away our daughter's whole inheritance". The complete series encompasses more than 100 individual pieces. Some of the individual pieces were put on public display in 1996 on the southeast corner of Central Park
at Fifth Avenue
, and then in Battery Park City
in downtown Manhattan
in 1997, to get public reaction prior to its installation originally scheduled for 1998. Approximately 25 of the pieces were finally installed at the end of 2000. with the balance installed in the following years. The entire project took 10 years from commissioning to the final completion of the installation.
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
work created by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor Tom Otterness
Tom Otterness
Tom Otterness is an American sculptor whose works adorn parks, plazas, subway stations, libraries, courthouses and museums in New York---most notably in Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City and in the 14th Street/8th Avenue subway station---and other cities around the world...
for the 14th Street – Eighth Avenue station ( trains) of the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
. It was commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
's Arts for Transit program for US$200,000 — one percent of the station's reconstruction budget. This program has commissioned more than 170 permanent works of art for public transportation facilities the MTA owns and operates. This work is one of the most popular artworks in the subway system.
Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist who is considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was the scourge of Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall machine...
's depiction of Boss Tweed
Boss Tweed
William Magear Tweed – often erroneously referred to as William Marcy Tweed , and widely known as "Boss" Tweed – was an American politician most notable for being the "boss" of Tammany Hall, the Democratic Party political machine that played a major role in the politics of 19th century...
and the corruption of Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
that was ongoing at the time of the subway's initial construction as his inspiration for these.
One of the larger pieces depicts a sewer alligator
Sewer alligator
Sewer alligator stories date back to the late 1920s and early 1930s, in most instances they are part of contemporary legend. They are based upon reports of alligator sightings in rather unorthodox locations, in particular New York City.-Legend:...
, as described by reporter Michael Rundle: "There is a bronze alligator on the Eighth Avenue and 14th Street subway platform, wearing a suit and tie. A 10 inches (254 mm)-high bronze man — also wearing a suit and tie — is struggling to escape his powerful jaws. Watching the scene, aside from throngs of L train riders, is another 10 inches (254 mm) figure. He stands beside his stricken friend, hands clasped behind his back, as if to say: 'I told you not to get so close'.” Otterness' sculpture has been praised for its appeal to all ages. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
published a 2003 account describing the interaction of a 4-year old boy with the sewer alligator. After jumping on the alligator's head and trying to wrestle the little man from his bronze jaws, the observer notes that the boy, "about to give up, he kicked the alligator, his foot connecting solidly with the bronze head. Surprise spread across his face as he ran away, crying, 'Mom, it tried to bite me!'."
Otterness became so obsessed with this project, that he delivered more than four times the amount of artwork he was originally commissioned to produce. His wife finally made him end expansion of the collection by imploring him to stop "giving away our daughter's whole inheritance". The complete series encompasses more than 100 individual pieces. Some of the individual pieces were put on public display in 1996 on the southeast corner of Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
at Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue (Manhattan)
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the center of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. The section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially that between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among...
, and then in Battery Park City
Battery Park City, Manhattan
Battery Park City is a planned community at the southwestern tip of lower Manhattan in New York City, United States. The land upon which it stands was created by land reclamation on the Hudson River using 1.2 million cubic yards of soil and rocks excavated during the construction of the World...
in downtown Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in 1997, to get public reaction prior to its installation originally scheduled for 1998. Approximately 25 of the pieces were finally installed at the end of 2000. with the balance installed in the following years. The entire project took 10 years from commissioning to the final completion of the installation.
Partial list of item descriptions
- an alligator coming out of a manhole cover, biting the behind of a person with a moneybag head.
- a sleeping homeless person being watched over by a police officer
- a couple walking arm and arm
- workers sweeping up subway tokens
- a couple of fare beaters sneaking under a barrier and a cop ready to catch them on the other side
- a little man with a big money bag sitting quietly on a bench perpetually waiting for a train
- workers carrying oversize versions of the tools used to build the subways
- people sweeping up piles of pennies
- colossal feet cut off flat at the ankles
- a totem-like sculpture whose human features are formed into the shape of a telephone
- two figures holding a crosscut saw, going after an I-beam
- little people sitting atop bulging bags of money
External links
- Tom Otterness's Web Site Life Underground gallery
- MTA Arts for Transit-The Official NYC Subway Art and Rail Art Guide Life Underground (2001)
- nycsubway.org Life Underground gallery
- Subway Art: New York's Underground Treasures, Morning EditionMorning EditionMorning Edition is an American radio news program produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It airs weekday mornings and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 05:00 to 09:00 ET, with feeds and updates as required until noon...
. October 18, 2004 - Tom Otterness: Subway Installations The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
video