To celebrate the London Underground’s 150th anniversary, Mark Wallinger has created Labyrinth, a series of black and white enamel artworks that will be permanently installed in every one of the Tube’s 270 stations.
Forming Art on the Underground‘s largest commission to date, each panel of the 270-part series bears its own unique labyrinth, rendered in the instantly recognisable graphic language of two other major design icons: the roundel logo and Harry Beck’s Tube map.
Located at the entrance of each labyrinth is a red X. The tactile enamel invites viewers to trace a line with their finger from this point to the centre of the maze and back again, their meandering route much like that of a commuter’s daily journey.
“Mostly we go about our business,” explains Wallinger, “journeying to and from work along a prescribed route. The seeming chaos of the rush hour is really just the mass of individuals each following the thread of their lives home.”
Wallinger’s artworks will be rolled out across the transport network throughout the first sixth months of 2013. The former Turner prize-winner follows in the footsteps of a lineage of artists producing work for the Underground that includes Sarah Morris, Tracey Emin, Bob and Roberta Smith, Jacqueline Poncelet and Anna Barham.
To create a lasting visual legacy for the Tube’s 150th year, Art on the Underground, whose mission is to ‘provide a world-class programme of contemporary art that enriches the Tube environment’, has announced plans for further commissions.These include a 15-part work involving 15 leading contemporary artists and subterranean screenings of London Underground-themed films from the BFI archive.
For more information visit art.tfl.gov.uk
More on a-n.co.uk:
Central Line Series: Art on the Underground – reviewed by Mark Liebenrood
One Thing Leads to Another – Everything is Connected – reviewed by Jack Welsh
