NYC SUBWAY STATION WALLS EMBELLISHED WITH DOG MOSAICS
We wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful is going to happen. We are going to get it right or at least be a step closer. Every morning is about the dreams we are constantly chasing and praying for, with the hope that one day they will turn into a reality. With every morning, we start a new page in our stories.
Mornings are normally super busy at least for everyone, get that breakfast on time, prepare your kids for school so they don’t miss out on the bus, then prepare yourself as well because there are those duties waiting for you at work. Train stations are normally the busiest each morning because commuters are on their way to different places either school or work or just running that errand. The fact that they are the places we must go to every day, in most cases we rarely pay attention to how they look. Are they painted colorfully? Is the entrance attractive? Well, these questions will rarely come up in your mind and you will be less bothered about them; so long as the train is working and will get you to your destination on time, then everything else is really not an emergency to be attended to.
For New Yorkers the recently re-opened 23rd street station is obviously going to “forcefully” catch an eye of every commuter. The station now has a new look away from the norm as its walls have been graced with beautifully designed dog mosaics. Dog mosaics in the station walls? Yes exactly, this is definitely a bizarre situation but is definitely a win for art lovers and dog lovers as well.
William Wegman is the mind behind the dog mosaics in the NYC subway station. Initially, he was a painter but his interest in photography all started when he adopted his first dog whom he named Man Ray. The dog played a vital role in the evolution of his artistry practice and prompted him to shift his attention from paintings to photography. The dog inspired some of his well-known works; portraits of dogs wearing clothing. Most of the portraits have actually been used in films and they are now used as stationary figures, a series of subway mosaics.
Stationary figures was commissioned by the MTA Arts and Design, a program that brings art to the public. The mosaics are designed to grace the walls of the recently re-opened station. The eye catching mosaics are basically dogs posing as humans in clothing. Williams specifically dressed them as the very people who will see them on a daily basis; the commuters. The outfits of the dog capture the spirit of an everyday New Yorker dressed in less ordinary clothes, nothing too fashionable actually.
After dressing and photographing the dog William relied on Mayer of Munich to fabricate mosaics and he skillfully turned grey stones into grey dogs. The walls of the station will never be same again and the commutes in the NYC subway station are now a little brighter, a little relaxed and obviously appealing.