Through the Metro

I often use public transportation. Going to dense parts of the city, it just makes sense not to bring a car and deal with parking. This time I was in the metro because of my car. Although temperatures at night lately have dipped below freezing, winter is not likely to reappear so I left my car at the garage to have my tires changed from the winter ones to the summer set. I took the metro downtown for the study group I am taking at MCLL and then returned by metro to get my car.



Our stations are aging. The first metro stations opened in 1966. I remember the day before the official opening, people were welcomed to ride free. I went with friends, getting on and off to gawk at the stations, each with slightly different designs and colours. The stations are not so shiny now and escalators are often in need of repairs. On my way downtown I had to walk down to the platform - some 100+  stairs. Fortunately for those arriving, the up escalators were working. I'm glad my knees are still in good shape - the trip down would not have been fun for those with mobility issues and those with strollers or young children.

Read a Chapter and Get Hooked

Lire Vous is a clever way to get people hooked on books (mainly French books). These large signs are in a number of metro stations.

 You can download a chapter to read on your mobile device. Then if you like it, you can either find out which library has it (both ebook and print versions) or you can buy it - ePub or print version.

I see more and more people reading on the metro with phones and eReaders. As someone who has never been good with reading while in motion, I just people watch - is that another form of reading?

Metro Art

Metro Art, originally uploaded by susanvg.

When this art work was first created, it stretched the length of the station, unprotected by this reflective glass cover. Then the vandals got to it. The whole thing had to be dismantled, cleaned and then those parts that were salvageable were remounted under glass. The vandals are at it again.
I am all for good graffiti artists who create art in the city, but spray painting tags on someone's property, whether it be a piece of art, a monument, a building or whatever is not creative, is not art and is not cool!

Day 249: Art in the Metro

Day 249: Art in the Metro, originally uploaded by susanvg.

I often travel on the metro (our subway system) and am struck by the lovely art in some of the stations. What this photograph doesn't show is that on the adjacent wall there is a huge advertisement for iPods. I wonder which attracts more attention. The stations, like stations in cities I have travelled in, have a succession of ads plastered around. Montreal has limited them a little more than some places. Does it devalue the work to have it juxtaposed beside advertising? I don't think all art work should be in museums; I love to see art in urban settings. I just wonder what other people see.

If you want to learn more about the art in Montreal's metro, visit this link. There I learned that this piece is called Hommage aux fondateurs de la ville de Montréal and is by artists Gaboriau and Osterrath. It is located in the Berri-UQAM station.