Scattered throughout the 14th street and 8th avenue New York City subway station lie over 100 miniature bronze-cast figures in various poses and actions. Created by Tom Otterness and commissioned by the MTA of New York Arts For Transit Program in 2001, the sculptures humorously depict people and animals. Their durable material gives them a timeless essence while their positioning within the subway amuse people bustling by. At any moment one can find a miniature surprise. Sometimes the surprises are prominent, like the little bronze man sitting on a bench amidst real people or another standing on the stair case handrails. Others are more inconspicuous such as the little man hanging on behind the staircase or the public telephone (at first glance looks like a regular telephone until you notice it has a face and is eating another sculpture.) Most of the figures represent blue collar workers, sprinkled in with your occasional homeless guy and police officers. Otterness plays around with a couple of themes relevant to city life. In one scene by a gate two small bronze sculptures are trying to squeeze underneath the gate only to find a bronze officer looking right at them. Another much larger scene shows an alligator coming out of the sewers with a half eaten little man in its mouth. Every now and then some figures will be holding bags of money or coins, another recurring motif throughout the station. The messages Otterness wants to convey are as simple as the toils of daily life in the city to more intrinsic ideas like the effect of the menacing choke of capitalism upon those hard working little folk as represented by the sculpture of the money scorpion.
By Guillermo Rodriguez and Virginia Milieris
See our video here: Life Underground
Well done.
Good editing. Would you like to share your process with the class?
Sure! Although I must admit there was a lot of guesswork involved because it was my first time using iMovie. I’m used to working with Windows Movie Maker, but I could try to teach the basics.