Last weekend, I caught up with Brian, an architect, for breakfast and our usual discussion of Japanese design and culture v. the US. Japan usual wins, and I end up with an urge to visit Tokyo. Afterward, we were both off to our respective offices on the ACE subway line. Brian was going uptown and I was heading downtown. We said good byes and walked down our different platforms, which led to the inevitable awkward sighting across the tracks. I’m never sure what the correct protocol is in the instances, as we already said good bye. If this were Seoul or Tokyo, I’d send an ironic SMS. No such luck. We nodded (but not quite waved) and simultaneously inserted our white earphone to erect our iPod bubbles.
As part of a public art project, vintage cartoonish bronze sculptures by Tom Otterness were installed throughout the 14th Street ACE station. I’m not often in this station these days, moving out of the area right before these sculptures moved in. These admittedly cute, yet slightly deviant, works are beloved by New Yorkers and tourists alike. They are constantly photographed via camera phones and more sophisticated equipment by passers-by. As I stared at this one particular piece “Life Underground,” all I could think about is how I really don’t care for them. And this particular Sunday, I didn’t care for them enough to take our my camera and take a quick snapshot.
I’ve found that the fans of these sculptures (which far out number me) run across education levels and where people live. When I share my opinion with them, I feel like I telling them I hate Santa, bunnies, and spring because the basic reaction is, “how you could not like sometime so cute and fun?” And they do have a point, because I do like some of work of Takashi Murakami. (Is it just because the artist is Japanese, making the work inherently cooler?)
I was going to continue and try to explain in length why they don’t do anything for me. However, the more interesting question is, why is there this (my?) need to constantly defend and formulate critical arguments for what amounts to personal taste?
