Public transport and contemporary art. The work of Esther Stocker
On the morning of Monday 4th of July, commuters, office workers and tourists who got off at the Vittorio Emanuele stop of Rome's Metro A (the orange one, to be clear) found themselves inside a work of art.
Over 8000 metres of black adhesive tape, on a white background, covered the walls, ceiling, pillars and access devices according to a dense system of orthogonal lines and a series of geometric elements anchored to the ceiling and arranged on the ground along the aisles of this metropolitan cathedral. This is the site-specific work Common Perspective (2024) by the South Tyrolean artist Esther Stocker, who has completely transformed the large atrium of the underground station for the occasion. What better place than Rome's public transport network, which welcomes more than 350,000 people every day.
The project is the fruit of a collaboration between MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts and ATAC, the public mobility company of Roma Capitale, on the occasion of the station's reopening and as part of the major exhibition Ambienti 1956- 2010. Environments by women artists II - curated by Andrea Lissoni, Marina Pugliese and Francesco Stocchi- running at MAXXI until 20 October 2024. A group show highlighting the fundamental contribution of women to the history of one of the forms of artistic expression perhaps least investigated to date: environments. On the borderline between art, architecture and design, they are three-dimensional and immersive works, which are activated by the interaction of the public and completed by the human presence.
Esther Stocker "Prospettiva Comune" , 2024, Black tape, white film. Courtesy MAXXI and ATAC
It is precisely from these assumptions that the synergy between MAXXI and ATAC was born, to bring an artistic project outside a museum. However, this type of collaboration is not new to ATAC, which last May transformed the carriages of a Metro A train into a travelling exhibition space through the Mind The Earth project. The aim was to make works of art accessible to all that would raise awareness of the big issue of climate change, sustainability policies and the goals of Agenda 2030.
Of course, when talking about works of art and subways, the fifteen stops of the Naples Art Stations immediately come to mind, in particular the Crater de Luz by Spanish architect Óscar Tusquets, which has fascinated tourists and Neapolitans alike for years with every passing station.
The one in Rome fits into a very interesting context of collaboration between public urban transport companies and important cultural realities. Reading the words of the general director of ATAC, it seems that this new project is in line with the path the company has taken to transform public transport places into spaces open to collective stimuli, through the use of the language of high culture.
We at Spaghetti Boost find it extremely interesting that art goes beyond the canonical spaces where we usually find it and reaches places or realities that represent new sectors.
Bringing art into the world of public transport is a smart way not only to enrich the travel experience, but also to transform people's conception of contemporary art. Projects such as these allow works of art to reach a wider audience, including those individuals who are intimidated or disinterested by traditional cultural venues.
These are win-win collaborations where all entities involved come out with enormous benefits. One of the most emblematic cases is certainly the Naples Metro, which, as we have already mentioned, is one of the most successful projects in this respect. According to the summary of the 2022 evaluation report of the "Naples Metro, Line 1" project, there has been a remarkable 1200% increase in passengers since its opening in 1993 to date, with annual passenger numbers reaching 41 million in 2019. This increase was particularly significant after the start of the "Stations of Art" project, which was part of a general improvement in infrastructure and services.
Toledo Subway, Naples
Toledo Subway, Naples
Shanghai underground, exhibition of The Prado Museum in Madrid
Cases like the one in Naples show how artistic-cultural projects of this kind, in common urban contexts, can not only improve the aesthetics of the spaces involved, but also encourage the re-appropriation of a number of everyday services, generating positive impacts on the local economy.
When considering the great collaborations between museums and public service companies, one cannot fail to mention the one between the world's largest metro network, Shanghai, and one of the most famous museums of all time, the Prado Museum in Madrid. In 2022, the Chinese transport network, with its 8 million passengers worldwide, was transformed into a huge art gallery, accessible to all daily users. Faithful reproductions of the Spanish museum's 29 most famous works have transformed the space and brought two culturally and geographically distant places closer together.
For the sake of completeness, we should also mention the initiatives in London and North America, projects that reinforce our initial thesis on the inclusion of art in contexts seemingly distant from the cultural landscape, promoting a positive perception of the city globally.
Esther Stocker "Prospettiva Comune", 2024, Black tape, white film. Courtesy MAXXI and ATAC
Returning to the collaboration with which this article opens, we understand how this type of project - in this case between MAXXI and ATAC - becomes a way of bringing 21st century art into the heart of the capital, bringing it into contact with thousands of Roman citizens and tourists. This is yet another case that reveals a growing trend, where institutions and companies are increasingly choosing important museums or exhibition spaces as partners for innovative projects.
Contemporary art is changing considerably, day by day, and some (now increasingly frequent) signs show us a world of culture increasingly oriented towards new forms of hybridisation, reaching out to places that are seemingly unrelated, but significant for our everyday life. Collaborations are becoming the main way, perhaps the only way, for those who want to make a living from art today, demonstrating how we are slowly abandoning that idea of sacredness that in the past relegated art to something elitist and destined for a restricted audience.
Today, as well as complaining about possible weaknesses in the capital's metropolitan system, Roman citizens will be able to walk and interact with the artwork of a great artist of our present day.
Cover image: Esther Stocker. "Prospettiva Comune", 2024, Black tape, white film. Courtesy MAXXI and ATAC
Alessio Vigni, born in 1994. He designs, edits, writes and deals with contemporary art and culture.
He collaborates with important museums, art fairs, art organisations and is an external consultant for the Fondazione Imago Mundi (Treviso). As an independent curator, he works mainly with emerging artists. He recently curated SNITCH Vol.2 (Verona, 2024), Dialoghi empatici (Milan, 2024) and the exhibition SNITCH (Bologna, 2023). His curatorial practice investigates the relationship between the human body and the social relations of contemporary man.
He writes for several specialised magazines and is author of art catalogues and podcasts. For Psicografici Editore he is co-author of SNITCH. Dentro la trappola (Rome, 2023). Since 2024 he has been a member of the Advisory Board of (un)fair.
