[title]
The MTA just unveiled two new digital artworks at Grand Central Madison that pay homage to the frantic and electric energy of New York City.
The two works are “Ouranos, Above Us Only Sky” by Colombian-born and NYC-based artist Monika Bravo, and “Anyplace, Anytime, Anywhere” by Korean-born artist Yehwan Song.
RECOMMENDED: Here’s why a grove of citrus trees is now growing at the Whitney Museum
Each artwork will be displayed for two minutes at regular intervals across five LED screens near the 47th Street entrance to Grand Central Madison, which is located inside Grand Central Terminal.
Bravo’s colorful collaged work depicts a vibrant cityscape that reflects the passage of time and the creation of modern civilization, all while borrowing images from futurist architecture. The surreal landscape depicted in the artwork is meant to prompt introspection around our role in shaping our lived environment.
“Inspired by my recent studies in Praxeology and open market economic principles, this animation explores how human action, purposeful behavior, and personal accountability shape civilization,” Monika Bravo said. “It highlights how individuals, through voluntary interactions, contribute to our collective journey.”
Song’s artwork, on the other hand, features digital icons that bounce like a pinball machine throughout the screen before creating a word at the center of each screen. She drew inspiration from the subway’s intricate network of tracks and the many people who move through them each day. The amalgamation of humans with machines takes center stage and the moving graphic references images from artificial intelligence, emojis, and browser windows that move around before the final configuration reveals a poem: “Any Place Time Where Any.”
"People move between places on their own paths in chaos. One moment, they would be going somewhere, and then they would come back to each other," Yehwan Song said. "They move along their individual paths but still share a mutual story. These are events we can glimpse from each other and ones we can imagine, understand, and empathize with based on our own experiences on the train platform."
The two new works are part of the MTA Arts & Design Digital Art Program, which invited digital media artists to propose artwork to exhibit at Grand Central Madison as part of an effort to create a "cultural corridor" that includes permanent exhibits by artists like Yayoi Kusama and Kiki Smith. The latest exhibits are an addition to the cultural corridor that might be worth a brief moment of reflection for the next time you find yourself in the frantic train station in Manhattan.
"These new projects by artists Monika Bravo and Yehwan Song take inspiration from our built environment for the delight of all who traverse above and below ground," Sandra Bloodworth, Director, MTA Arts & Design, said. "This is the third set of Digital Art commissions for the Madison Concourse and MTA customers have come to expect a visual feast that will stay with them on their journeys and beyond."