The latest piece in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (NY) Arts for Transit program incorporates LED lights in a digital display. Hive, by Leo Villareal, takes the form of a honeycomb on the ceiling of the new transfer point at the Bleecker Street station.
The LED lights flash and move in different directions and were inspired by the Game of Life, a cellular automaton developed by mathematician John Conway. “You can see it begins, that it reproduces, that it moves, it lives,” said Arts for Transit director Sandra Bloodworth. “Sometimes it stops, dies. In many ways, it’s sort of not only evoking the movement and transportation but that process of life.” Riders liked what they saw. “The artwork is beautiful,” one commuter told NY1. “Makes the train station looks alive.” Another added, “Everybody will get a kick out of this.”
Bloodworth said it was a challenge to include art in the subway that incorporated transportation technology. ”We worked with our in-house guys to make sure this would be durable and we could change the light bulbs, so to speak,” she told NY1. Link to full story in NY1.
Caption: Detail from Hive by Leo Villareal
Photo source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority
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