Hrag Vartanian

I don’t know why I keep stumbling onto works by Vito Acconci but I do.

I spotted this one at the 161st Street B, D & 4 station at Yankee Stadium (Bronx). It is part of a collaboration between Acconci and Helene Brandt–she created the “Room of Tranquility” mosaic which you can see in the second image below.

It was clever and not brilliant, coy and not stunning. I could tell there was something intriguing at work in the subway art when I first spotted a minor element at one of the secondary entrances but I was a little disappointed when I discovered it was Acconci–I suspected someone more “emerging” behind the public art interventions.

Some good photos (particularly of the various chair forms) here, here and here.

Note: there are some disparate elements of the public art work which I spotted (and didn’t snap) throughout the station that aren’t represented in any of these photo collections.