Art for commuters' sake

November 20, 2012 2:29 PM

in 1977 Amsterdam got its first Underground/metro line. The trains that first ran on that line, the "zilvermeeuwen or seagulls" are still in service some thirtyodd years later and have gotten a midlife update a few years ago. Part of that update included a new anti-graffitti skin, but also the transformation of some fortyfour carriages into art shows, featuring artworks and photographs by fortyfour Dutch artists.
posted by MartinWisse (10 comments total)

Inspired by the simple fact that I've been commuting in these trains for the last year or so. If so inclined, you could also see this as symbolic for the destruction of spontaneous, folk art (graffiti) in favour of subsidised, commodised, safe art.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:32 PM on November 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yeah, it seems even art on trains has to happen on the state's terms.
posted by phrontist at 2:36 PM on November 20, 2012

Can I paint your car, phrontist?
posted by brokkr at 2:43 PM on November 20, 2012

brokkr, you paint it first. Then I'll write my name all over your paintings in messy black paint.
posted by 1adam12 at 2:56 PM on November 20, 2012

"folk art" on the interior of trains (beyond performance art) isn't usually the kind of graffiti people like to celebrate. It's stickers and hastily scrawled tags. No big loss there.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 3:01 PM on November 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

And you can still do this without disturbing the sanctioned art.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 3:04 PM on November 20, 2012

I kind of love the rhythm of the Flickr presentation that results from every photo being taken from the same position.
posted by RobotHero at 3:27 PM on November 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

spontaneous, folk art

tagging?
posted by mattoxic at 4:35 PM on November 20, 2012

Yeah, it seems even art on trains has to happen on the state's terms.

In a functioning democracy, mediating what may be done to public property is absolutely a reasonable and necessary function of the state. I don't want to live in a society where anyone can do whatever the hell they want to stuff that belongs to all of us.
posted by George_Spiggott at 5:17 PM on November 20, 2012 [3 favorites]

phrontist: "Yeah, it seems even art on trains has to happen on the state's terms"

Such a shame, missing out on all those hastily drawn penises.
posted by HFSH at 8:45 AM on November 21, 2012