MetroArte

[Santiago, Chile]

if we’ve had so much as thirty minutes of face time since february, you’ve probably heard my whimpers regarding the daily commute.. 

it’s a minimum of an hour which begins with a quiet walk (usually rushed, usually spilling coffee.)  followed by a ten to thirty minute bus ride (depending on traffic..) sometimes the bus is on-point, other times its a twenty minute wait.. sometimes its jam-packed, impossible to fit one more passenger. its at this point is when five, ten, twenty more passengers squeeze aboard.  standing room only is a laughable understatement.  the bus ends at the metro station where our feet join the shuffling of leaves and briefcases moving with the tin determination of toy soldiers.  that is to say we’re tough, determined, but if you mess with our routine... we’ll crumble in an instant.  a couple blocks later we board the metro (repeat above description of overcrowding,) and in twenty more minutes we’re delivered just three blocks from the university.  

two hours amidst such hustle does a number on creative energies.  though in as much as i’d like to blame the transantiago for political violence, world hunger, and the HIV epidemic, the Santiago metro system has done an unsurmountable job of creating an intellectually (free decent newspapers upon entrance,) auditory (music videos on LCD screens as you wait for the next train,) and visually stimulating experience.  the Red Line, which we frequent, features compelling works of public art throughout.  (other lines do feature works but to varying degrees.)  the above are two of my favorites both found within the Baquedano station.  the first above the train which connects with the Green Line, the second on the way to the Green Line in the direction of Plaza del Maipo.

 there’s really something to be said for a society that embraces artists and public expression of art.  and though the stigma of the starving artist has put nearly every other cliche to shame, we’ll tip our hats to museums, parks, galleries, blogs, dedicated to the preservation and proliferation of art.  which is to say the preservation and proliferation of our voice, our lives, the subtle though profound mark we each hope to leave on this blessed earth.