On Friday, I got my chance to ride in what I’ve dubbed the Art-Metro. L’art prend le metro is two artists’, Rose-Marie E. Goulet's and Chantal Dumas's, attempt at creating art from/within our very own public transportation, transforming a single metro car into something else entirely.
If you haven’t yet had the chance to experience this car, take a look at the streaked blue makeover it’s received. The lights a re a little more tinted, and the dark atmosphere makes for a very relaxing ride. Stickers of city scenes decorate the windows.
But visual art isn’t all you get!
A slightly (okay, very) bizarre soundtrack plays tidbits of sounds, phrases and words. My forty-minute ride included sound bites of birds chirping, a woman speaking Japanese, applause, roosters, laughing and what sounded like howler monkeys. A YouTube video managed to capture just some of the strangeness.
I had heard about this metro car, and so was very excited when I got the opportunity to hop on. I spent a lot of the time watching my fellow passengers for their reactions to the chiming church bells, and quite obviously, responses were varied. Confusion, impatience, amusement…
I think I appreciated the reaction to the art more than the art itself. Though the blue really is quite gentle in the eyes.
Have any of you taken a ride in the Art-Metro? And if you hadn’t heard about it before getting on, what was your reaction those pâté chinois! pâté chinois! chants?
Photo: "meet me there," by Midnight Poutine Flickr pooler luxiferre
Comments
So true Melanie, I had forgotten about the smug ones!
I was disappointed I had already known about it. Though I did fall asleep for a few minutes and woke up in a state of panic when I heard those howler monkeys. That was as surprised as I got.
Posted by: kim at November 12, 2007 4:07 PM
Someone told me about this car in 2007. I just happen to take this Metro car this morning on my way to work. At first I was wondering why everything was BLUE! I thought it was an ad. Then I heard the noises (someone wanting to get off at a stop, someone who missed a stop-all in French; some fairy chimes; and other sounds). I and many others on the car were looking around for the source. I couldn't help but smile to myself because it was funny to see. I also noticed that that particular car does not have any ads, nor does it have the LED screen telling you news, the next stop, time, etc. Ad-free art! :D
Posted by: Guylaine at January 25, 2008 3:02 PM
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OMG I have road this particular cart and I had absolutely no idea what was going on. You are right though, the best part is seeing people's reactions. There were people laughing and looking confused, but there were also the people who were so dedicated to acting like they didn't notice it and were too smug to acknowledge the obvious strangeness. Weird things happen, but it's a lot weirder (and funnier,) when people act like the weird things are totally normal.
Posted by: Melanie at November 12, 2007 4:00 PM