During the month of September
2008, the 190th Street A-train Subway Station will be an Art Gallery
hosting a Solo Exhibition that encourages the viewers to become participants
and run amok.
Washington Heights
Manhattan
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Version
v11-4-2007
Click here for change log.
Contact
Email: NYC ART STAR (Tom McAlister)
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 - 2007 by Tom McAlister / NYC Art Star. www.nycartstar.com. All Rights Reserved.
Name of the Installation
ARCHETYPE IN A BOTTLE
Elevator Pitch
Install art posters into the under-utilized advertising receptacles of a subway station in northern Manhattan - the 190th Street A-train Subway Station. And, this art installation, in addition to being a buzz in and of itself, would simultaneously double as a highly effective advertising campaign for Sharpie® brand permanent markers, KRINK® brand permanent markers, and Junobo® paint markers. To maintain the high impact of the advertising campaign and the Art Installation itself, the Sharpie®, KRINK®, and Junobo® logos will NOT appear on the posters. Everytime the Art Installation is mentioned in the text, audio, and video posts of cyber space, the Sharpie®, KRINK®, and Junobo® brands will be talked about. The viewers of the art posters will be given the opportunity to mark-up the posters using Sharpie® and KRINK® brand permanent markers and Junobo® paint markers.
The Highlights
Synopsis in a Bottle:
The venue is the 190th Street A-train Subway Station in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
184 posters, each with a different Archetype on them, will occupy the 184 advertising receptacles located on the station’s platforms and in the station’s mezzanine. The public is encouraged to mark up the posters as they see fit. The writing utensil of choice is the Sharpie® brand marker. The creativity anticipated is infinite.
Wheat Paste Alley, also known as the Bennett Ave passageway – which is approximately 100 yards long and connects the station’s Bennett Ave entrance to the station’s mezzanine, wherein the public is encouraged to paste up their own work. The base medium is paper and wheat paste. The creativity anticipated is infinite.
Using colored chalks, the public is also encouraged to mark up the standing surfaces of the concrete subway platforms with doodles and murals. The black pieces of gum on the crisp clean hosed-down platforms form a constellation of stars in the sky. And, with whiteout, you can make your own Subway Stickman!
At various locations throughout the station, there will be seven Sponsors with their respective marketing booths, plus, there will be a booth to sell art souvenirs and products related to the installation.
Opening night reception located at the venue, 6 PM to 9 PM.
Opening night after party located at the nearby New Leaf Café in Ft Tryon Park, 9 PM to 1 AM.
On the first Saturday and Sunday there will be a Gourmet Food Concession at the Playground Addition adjacent to the Ft Washington Ave. entrance.
The exact dates of this installation will coincide exactly with the dates of the Washington Heights & Inwood 5th Annual Uptown Artstroll and will part of the Uptown Artstroll.
Art & Venue Overview:
The 190th Street A-train Station, Washington Heights, Manhattan.
The 190th Street A-train Station can viewed as…
The Smooth Stone Bottle,
The Tomb,
The Wine Cellar.
The 190th Street A-train Station acts as the “all encompassing bottle” in which resides 184 “bottles” – or poster receptacles. In each of the 184 “bottles” (poster receptacles) resides an “archetype” or “symbol” or “extreme short poem” (Archetype for short) – where each Archetype primarily comprises words and where each poster is approximately 36” W x 48” H in size.
THE BLOCKS AND THE VAPOR: The platforms and the walls and the ceiling and the trains and the train tracks are THE BLOCKS. The posters and the archetypes and the sounds of the subway cars and the feelings and thoughts and conversations of the people are THE VAPOR.
The architecture of the 190th Street A-train Station is that of two smooth stone bottles lying side-by-side touching each other.
When standing on either the downtown platform or the uptown platform, you feel as though you are standing within a smooth stone bottle lying on its side. When you are standing on one of the platforms and “drinking in” its north-to-south view or its south-to-north view, you become immersed in a semi-self-contained sensuality as the opposite platform fades from your view.
What creates the touching of the two stone bottles is a concrete wall of separation running north-south, which looks like a viaduct when standing east-west. When you stand on one of the platforms, you see the opposite platform though the 5-foot wide openings in the viaduct. When looking over to the opposite platform, directly through anyone of these viaduct openings, you have an isolated self-contained view of one of the poster receptacles residing on the opposite platform. There is a foot-thick bundle of cables attached to and spanning the entire north-south stretch of viaduct, from tunnel to tunnel. This cable bundle spans the top of the viaduct arches such that when you look at a person standing on the opposite platform, the cable bundle obscures their head. If it were not for the foot-thick bundle of cables, a person’s head would be framed by the arch of the viaduct.
All who visit will be given free reign to mark up the posters as they see fit. This installation is about provoking the viewer, the experiencer, to take creative action. Sharpie® brand markers will be handed out at selected dates and times. Viewers are free to bring and use writing utensils of their own choosing.
The approximately 100-yard long walking tunnel/passage way (again, you feel yourself in yet another bottle) that leads you from the Bennett Ave entrance to the entrance of the platforms will be dubbed Wheat Paste Alley. Individuals will be encouraged paste up their art for all to see.
Venue Location:
There are two street entrances to the 190th Street A-train Station:
740 Ft Washington Ave, New York, NY 10040
269 Bennett Ave, New York, NY 10040
The Fort Washington Ave entrance which is located at 740 Ft Washington Ave, which is approximately 3-blocks north of the corner of West 190th Street and Overlook Terrace and the Bennett Ave entrance which is located at 269 Bennett Ave.
The Fort Washington Ave entrance has three elevators available to take you down to the entrance of the platforms.
One of the three Fort Washington Ave entrance elevators is manned by an MTA employee 24/7.
The Bennett Ave entrance has an approximately 100-yard long walking tunnel/passage way (dubbed Wheat Paste Alley), inclined upwards, takes you to the mezzanine – the entrance of the subway platforms.
A subway booth is manned by an MTA employee 24/7 in the mezzanine.
Duration:
For thirty days.
Setup dates.
Opening reception. All sponsors on-hand. All media on-hand.
Opening after party at the New Leaf Café in Ft Tyron Park: 9 PM to 1 AM. All sponsors on-hand. All media on-hand.
First Sunday: Wheat Paste Alley posts go up. 9:01 AM through 5:59 PM. All sponsors on-hand. All media on-hand.
First Saturday and Sunday: Food Concession at the Playground Addition. 9:01 AM through 5:59 PM.
Teardown date.
Admission Cost:
For a “fee” of $2 per guest, in the form of a metro card swipe (all admission monies are automatically “donated” to NYCT/MTA), each guest will have unlimited access to the Uptown and Downtown platforms of the 190th Street A-train Station.
Some posters will reside in receptacles located in the Mezzanine and outside the turnstile entrance points. Exiting the platforms means paying another $2 to re-enter the platforms, unless of course you have an “Unlimited Ride” Metro card.
Some Photos of the Venue:
190th Street downtown platform
Kristy on the Downtown platform – looking north (she’s looking south at the camera). (re: Jordan Matter Photography, Fashion)
More photos of the venue here.
The Art being exhibited
The Concept:
One hundred eighty four Archetypes (where each Archetype primarily comprises words), each with its own unique 4-digit “serial number” (reflecting the 4-digit “serial numbers”* of the A-train R44-series** subway cars). On paper, approximately 36" W x 48" H in size.
* See the R44-series Numbering Plan.
** See an interior shot of the R44-series subway car.
Each Archetype sits upon the blue field of a 2-dementional abstract of the “American flag” (displacing the 50 stars) with the entire “American flag” sits on a silver/gray background. The composition reflects the passenger-facing side of the R44-series subway car.
Color composition of the poster: Red, white, blue, black, and gray.
Note: There are a few one-off posters with different color compositions or different color arrangements.
Font type for the Archetype (proposed): Microsoft Sans Serif.
Font color for the Archetype: White
Font type for the Serial Number (proposed): Microsoft Sans Serif.
Font color for the Serial Number: White
Size:
Approximately 36" W x 48" H in size. This is the size of the standard advertising receptacle found at the 190th Street A-train Station.
Note: A few of the receptacles are double or triple that size, such that 2 or 3 posters, respectively, can be placed side-by-side. A few of the receptacles are over-sized*, so we can create oversized posters specifically for those spaces.
*Technically, these “over-sized receptacles” are not receptacles per-se but are spaces that can definitely be treated and used as such.
The top 33% of the poster comprises Archetype, Serial Number, and Flag. The bottom 67% of the poster is empty.
Media/Materials:
Option-1: Poster-grade advertising paper; matt (non-glossy) finish; consider using slightly off-white for the lettering and numbering and for the white stripes of the flag; wheat paste.
Option-2: Poster-grade advertising polymer “paper”; glossy finish (matt finish if possible); consider using slightly off-white for the lettering and numbering and for the white stripes of the flag; self-adhesive.
Note: Use of off-white, specifically a yellow-tinged white, would further reflect the aged/weathered color of the white seen in the flag stickers and serial number placards found on the train car.
Prep:
Most of the receptacles are covered with layers of paint. Possibly scrape off the layers of paint and reveal the very smooth, yet slightly porous and beautiful “sand stone” surface.”
Wheat Paste Alley is covered with layers of paint. Possibly scrape off the layers of paint and reveal the very smooth, yet slightly porous and beautiful “sand stone” surface.”
Maintenance:
Have plenty of “reserve posters” on hand to replaced posters that are removed, for various reasons, during the course of the exhibition.
Cleanup:
Shortly after the end of the event remove all the posters from the venue, including those in Wheat Paste Alley.
Repaint the receptacles (black) if required – during the weeks after the event.
Repaint Wheat Paste Alley if required – during the weeks after the event.
Remove any extraneous “graffiti” occurring outside the receptacles.
Repair any “damage” (e.g. chipped tiles).
Engaging the Experiencers Directly
Using Sharpie® brand markers* provided for at the venue, visitors will be given free reign to mark up the posters as they see fit. Hopefully, the power of the Archetypes and the venue as a whole will stir many peoples creativity in exciting and unexpected ways and that they will then express that on the posters and in Wheat Paste Alley.
*Sharpie® brand markers will be the only markers provided (if visitors wish to use other writing utensils, then they are free to bring their own).
Distribution of the advertising receptacles
There are 190 advertising receptacles – when one includes the 6 receptacles in the elevators (each approximately 33” W x 46” H in size), distributed as follows:
Downtown Platform:
North: 26
Center: 9 (of which 2 are oversized)
South: 42
Uptown Platform:
North: 26
Center 6 (of which there are four singles (2 of which are oversized) and one 2-joiner (4 + 2 = 6))
South: 42
Uptown Platform, North/Center
Bennett Street Exit (Mezzanine): 13 + 3 = 16
Stairs above Downtown Platform (Mezzanine): 4 (of which there are one single and one 3-joiner (1 + 3 = 4))
Elevator Hallway (Mezzanine): 13 (of which there are two singles, four 2-joiners and one 3-joiner (2 + 8 + 3 = 13))
Elevators (Mezzanine):
Elevator-1 (south): 4 (each slightly oversized)
Elevator-2 (central): 0
Elevator-3 (north): 2 (each slightly oversized)
Corporate Sponsors
The Concept:
Contact certain “mainstream corporations” to request sponsorship and to see if they wish to setup a “marketing/trade-show booth” at the exhibition.
The venue can hold a total of 7 sponsor booths plus the Installation’s “Product for Sale” booth comfortably: One at each end of the uptown and downtown platforms (that is 4), plus, four more before the turnstiles bringing the total to 8.
The purpose of having corporate sponsors is two fold:
(1) To defer the costs of the installation, and
(2) To directly celebrate the mixing of main stream and underground advertising, promotion, and branding. This mixing is intended to be an integral part of the installation. Ideally, each corporate sponsor would have their logo prominently displayed on any installation promotional materials and would have a “marketing/trade-show booth” at the venue (but would not have Advertising Receptacle space).
Draft list of corporate sponsors:
Sanford Corporation – makers of Sharpie® markers
Sanford representatives, wearing red polo shirts, would be on-hand to hand out Sharpies® and man their marketing booth – like they do while at Bristol Motor Speedway for the annual Sharpie® 500 NASCAR event.
American’s Express’s IN:NYC Credit Card
American Express representatives, wearing black polo shirts, would be on-hand manning their marketing booth and presumably taking applications for the IN:NYC credit card.
“In May or June of 2005, while googling for news about the comments regarding 9/11 that Maggie Gyllenhaal had made during the premiere of her movie The Great New Wonderful, I click on an article hosted on The Independent Online – a UK based electronic newspaper. There, I was presented with the article and an advertisement for the IN:NYC Credit Card. The Independent Online was able to determine that I was surfing from a computer in Manhattan.” ~~ NYCArtStar
Voss Water representatives, wearing sky-colored polo shirts, would be on-hand to hand out (plastic) bottles of Voss Water and man their marketing booth.
Artesian water from Norway in an aesthetic bottle.
“In September 2004, while I was attending some of the ‘Spring 2005’ fashion shows hosted by MAO PR at MAO Space on West 18th Street, Voss Water representatives where on-hand, handing out Voss Water in their signature (glass) bottles.” ~~ NYCArtStar
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. – makers of DoubleMint chewing gum
Wrigley representatives, wearing green polo shirts, would be on-hand to hand out their various gums and confections and man their marketing booth.
Here’s to all those black gum spots on the subway platforms!
Kenneth Cole representatives, wearing black polo shirts, would be on-hand manning their marketing booth to presumably hand out discount coupons for Kenneth Cole clothing and footwear.
Of all quintessential New York City American Dream stories, why this one? Simply put, the advertisements that have made Kenneth Cole, both the brand and the man, stand out, also resonate strongly with the Archetypes being presented in this installation.
Apple representatives, wearing turquoise polo shirts, would be on-hand manning their marketing booth to presumably hand out discount coupons.
Songs and podcasts arranged how you want them in an aesthetic player.
DJs are encouraged to express their take on the Installation in the form of sound tracks which will be posted and downloadable.
Archetype In A Bottle Souvenirs
Archetype In A Bottle representatives, wearing white polo shirts, would be on-hand manning their marketing booth to presumably sell souvenirs of the artwork.
Sell “product” at the venue, just like the museums do.
Muses, and, possible Mentors, Consultants, and
Participants
Individuals by function (listed
in no particular order) – this is just a very small sampling of possibilities:
- Street Artists
- Archetype Consultants
- Art Collectors
Adam Lindemann (Collecting Contemporary)
- Gallery/Museum Curators
New Museum of Contemporary Art
- Art Installation Artists
- Art Reality
- NYC Socialites
- Graphic Designers
- Printers
- Advertising Campaign Creatives
- Media Sales Persons
- Media Personalities
Harry Allen (Radio Host of Non-fiction) – great interviewer!
- Event Planners
- Public Relations Persons
- Art Bloggers
- Street Art Bloggers
Marc and Sarah Schiller of WoosterCollective.com
- Art Personalities
Mark Kostabi and his Factory Team
- Fashion Designers
- DJs
- Gossip Columnists
- Documentary Film/Video Makers
- Subway Enthusiasts
- Corporate Sponsorship Persons
- Photographers
- Grant Proposal Writers
- Webmaster
- Roadies/stagehands
Use Washington Heights based labor and volunteers as much as possible.
Use NYC based labor as much as possible.
- Those who have shows on MNN.org and wish to promote the project.
Stacey Ellis of Blackwash
The Studio B Guy
- Individuals who know how to work and negotiate with City and State government employees and the NYC Police Department to secure the various permits and who know how to work with the NYC Fire department to maintain safety.
- Lawyers, Copyright Lawyers
- Financial Officer
Promotion/Buzz/Marketing:
Blog/website for this Art Installation:
Blog everything about the project – both successes and setbacks and keep it entertaining.
Post and show everything about what the show is going to look like before the show actually happens (hold back only one or two surprises – and then, only leak that out about 3 to 4 hours before the actual show – to a few key gossip bloggers)
Urban (Street) Art Blogs:
Art News Blogs:
Celebrity/Gossip Blogs:
See if we can get some celebrities involved in this project to make an appearance and autograph some of the posters using Sharpie® brand markers.
Periodicals/Radio/Other:
:
PAPER Mag
W-Magazine
Time Out New York
New York Magazine
The Advocate
New York Press
Non-Fiction radio show with Harry Allen on WBAI Radio 99.5 FM
NPR Radio
Mail postcards to various Chelsea galleries
MNN.org TV:
Pitch the plans for the installation to viewers who watch MNN.org television programming.
Special Guests (listed in no particular order)
Jon Rappoport
Kenneth Cole
Mark Kostabi
Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant)
Marc and Sarah Schiller (woostercollective.com)
Maggie Gyllenhaal
James de la Vega
Emily Robison, Natalie Maines, and Margie Maguire (The Dixie Chicks)
Harry Allen (Radio Host of Non-fiction)
Banksy
Opening Night After Party:
Since the Met’s Cloisters Museum and the New Leaf Café are located in Fort Tryon Park near the Ft Washington entrance of the 190th Street A-train Station (the venue), some type of cross promotion is in order.
Host the opening night after party at the New Leaf Café.
Swag
While promoting the Installation, offer free samples of the products listed in the Products for Sale section.
Products for Sale
Men’s and Women’s T-shirts:
T-shirts depicting non-viewer and viewer modified archetype posters.
Post Cards:
Post cards depicting non-viewer and viewer modified archetype posters.
Posters:
Posters depicting non-viewer and viewer modified archetype posters.
Archetype Trading Cards:
Baseball cards size - not laminated – with pink flat cardboard sugar-powdered “baseball” gum – depicting non-viewer and viewer modified archetype posters.
The gum echoes the gum spots on the platforms in any subway station. Sell a pack of cards for much cheaper than a pack of Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards would and include more cards per pack than in Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! packs.
Archetype In A Cup of Tea tea:
“Designer” caffeinated and decaffeinated teas – depicting an Archetype.
Provide the paper packaging around the tea bag and the paper grabber at the end of the tea string with an Archetype – on a blue field (and on other colors).
In a promo for this product, show a steaming hot cup of tea served with sugar cubes, not sugar packets. The archetype shown for this promo would be THE BLOCKS AND THE VAPOR.
Mobile Phone Anitones:
Each time the phone rings, it randomly displays one of the Archetypes with the ringtone of your choosing.
A children’s book entitled “The Language Troll”:
Plot: A 10-year-old child (boy or girl) visits the Installation at the 190th Street A-train Station with the Language Troll.
Objections (O) & Responses (R)
O1: Bureaucrats might say that this Art Installation encourages graffiti and vandalism of public property.
R1: This Art Installation encourages people to tap into and release their own personal power. Furthermore, people inherently respect art that is on display and the property on which it resides. Yes, we encourage people to markup the posters (as a catalyst for them to release their own personal power). There is little risk that any individuals would mark up “outside the box.”
O2: You state that one of your intensions of this Installation is to make a profit. What about donating some of those profits to charity?
R2: Yes, we intend to donate a percentage of the profits to the Washington Heights & Inwood Uptown Art Stroll and to other art organizations as deemed appropriate. Please contact us if your organization wishes to receive some of the donations. Art organizations within Washington Heights will be given first priority and no guarantees can be made to donate monies to organizations not based in Washington Heights.
O3: The MTA/City denies the permit to allow the Installation at the 190th Street A-train Station to take place – citing whatever reason.
R3: Maybe one way in which we can further ensure that the MTA/City grants us the permit without delay is to frame the permit application request along the following lines:
No paid advertising has taken place at the 190th Street A-train Station for the past three years (at a minimum). This subway station comprises 184 advertising receptacles that could be used to regularly showcase, say, poster reproductions of original art. This has the potential of bringing more visitors up to Washington Heights – which means more business for local merchants, including real estate agents.
Have the original Permit Application Request include a strategic appeal to have the MTA and the City officially designate the 190th Street A-train Station and its advertising receptacles as “sanctioned art space” for this and future installations. All applications for permits for art installations at the 190th Street A-train Station are then framed within this context and given top priority.
There is a precedence for having a live art exhibition within a subway station*: “In 1970, the Transit Authority held a public service exhibit of employee art in the mezzanine of the 57th Street [at 6th Ave] IND Station [the F train stops there today] – then among the city’s newest, having opened July 1, 1968.” ~~ See page 198 of the book entitled “Subway Style – 100 Years of Architecture & Design in the New York City Subway” (ISBN 1-58479-349-x).
* Granted, the exhibition was held in the station’s Mezzanine and not on the station’s platforms (see: Mezzanine of the 57th Street/6th Ave Station – part of the IND Sixth Avenue Line serviced by the F train at all times). The ARCHETYPE IN A BOTTLE exhibition is to be held throughout the entire station.
Some Musings
“In New York City, Dreams Come True.” ~~ Heatherette at their “Fall 2006 Collection” Runway Show, Olympus Fashion Week, February, 2006.
“One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art” ~~ Oscar Wilde. Here’s hoping that the Archetype in a Bottle® T-shirts sell well!
The 21st Century Jasper Johns: “The American flag, seen, no longer as 3-demensional ‘flag’ – waving in the breeze, but as 2-demensional Logo with a capital L – as seen on cars, trucks, trains, and store glass windows and doors.”
The Nov. 5, 2001 cover of The New Yorker by Carter Goodrich.
One of the themes of this installation is transforming a Logo into an attractive brand with worldwide appeal. Then, once that is established, market products that employ this brand to increase sales.
This installation acknowledges all of the spit-out chewing gum that “pot marks” the concrete subway platforms – everywhere you look! Each pack of Archetype® Trading Cards will come with a stick of bubblegum. See a Brief History of Baseball Cards and the Topps Chewing Gum Company of New York City. See also GumBusters.
“In war, is it a matter of whose right or whose left?” ~~ Kenneth Cole poster advertisement, seen on Cathedral Parkway, Morningside Heights, Manhattan.
By creating Archetypes (symbols) that unleash individual power (and thereby creating the catalyst for you to create your own Archetypes), the question, “Can internal and external authoritative patterns and their unchanged symbols (Archetypes) be shattered like crystal champagne flutes being shattered by an opera singer?” simply dissolves. The question, “How can internal and external ‘authority figures’ exert ‘social control’ through the manipulation of symbols (Archetypes)?” simply dissolves.
Imagine if a “celebrity” were to sign one of the posters with his autograph?
The “flag decals” thread on subchat.com.
Practice enlightenment through self-promotion and branding.
The controversy of encouraging viewers to “mark up the posters with Sharpie® brand markers and other writing utensils as they see fit” – a controversy which is inherent to this particular venue, makes the process of bringing this installation to fruition ripe for chronicling by documentary film makers.
“There is no experience that does not involve the creative force of the experiencer. Of course, to make that statement, I'm going to levels that exceed what is considered normal. I'm entering exactly that territory called paranormal. …[T]he enduring lesson of great art is that you are an artist. …[The] creative capacity is a different kind of animal. It's non-material, more real than anything material. It's a force greater than any storm in the universe. It's more encompassing than any universe. It's beyond any system. It's available to us whenever we want to GO. It never dies. It's what freedom is for. It's the ultimate response to a world where titanic experiences are packaged and sold.” ~~ Jon Rappoport.
v11-4-2007 – Added KRINK® brand permanent markers and Junobo® paint markers to the Elevator Pitch.
v8-23-2007 – Pushed out date of Installation to September 2008.
v8-20-2007 – Added video.
v5-30-2007 – Date and duration changes.
v3-5-2007 – Added Subway Stickman to The Highlights section.
v2-25-2007 – Added Elevator Pitch.
v12-4-2006 – Minor Edits.
v12-3-2006 – First release.
Copyright © 2006 - 2007 by Tom McAlister / NYC Art Star. All Rights Reserved.
