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50,000 Limited Edition Barbara Kruger MetroCards Hitting Subway Stations This Week
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 30, 2017
Modified Oct 30, 2017
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Courtesy of Performa
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 30, 2017
Modified Oct 30, 2017
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The latest MetroCard you'll want to wait on line for—following the Supreme and Twin Peaks offerings over the past year—will be Barbara Kruger's, which will hit four subway stations this Wednesday. Kruger designed two cards, each in her signature red and white aesthetic, featuring the following text in her chosen Futura Bold Oblique font: "Who is healed? Who is housed? Who is silent? Who speaks?" and, "Whose hopes? Whose fears? Whose values? Whose justice?"
There will be 50,000 cards in total, dispersed randomly from vending machines at Queensboro Plaza, Broadway-Lafayette Street, East Broadway and the B/C station at 116th Street, according to the NY Times. Kruger, who splits her time between NYC and L.A., told the paper, "I tried to have a range of stations to have the most varied mix of riders."
The cards were commissioned by Performa, which previously announced a "major design collaboration with Barbara Kruger for Performa 17, the seventh edition of the Performa Biennial, to take place November 1-19, 2017, at locations throughout New York City." In addition to the MetroCards, there will be pieces from the artist around town:
Kruger’s Performa Commission will insert the artist into the urban street culture that has absorbed, appropriated, and applied her provocative attitude and approach through a series of public art actions, performances, and installations. Expanding upon her iconic photo-collages combining text and image, Kruger will employ these signature effects and strategies to broadcast messages that engage issues of and ideas about power, desire, adoration, contempt, and capital.
Using her instantly recognizable white-on-red Futura typeface, the project will include an installation for the popular Lower East Side skate park located beneath the Manhattan Bridge, created in partnership with NYC Parks and skate park designer Steve Rodriguez; the design of a billboard on 17th Street and 10th Avenue in Chelsea; and a full wrap of a classic school bus that will serve as a mobile site for community engagement.
Additional strategic public interventions will be announced closer to the opening of the biennial. These elements will take on New York City, unfolding throughout the duration of Performa 17 to immerse audiences in powerful messages grounded in activism, feminism, and community while exploring the role and power of mass media.
Here's a little more on the LES skate park installation, from Steve Rodriguez, who designed the park:
Tagged
metrocards
barbara kruger
performa
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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