Underground Subway Art

The title of the artwork is Under the Underground, a 2026 creation of Nancy Blum, part of the MTA Arts and Design initiative. The image depicts trees, yet the focus of this work is on what lies below. Underneath, roots shoot outwards in tangled lines that are identified by their specific colors: blue, green, yellow, red, orange. They are clearly subway lines, even if they may be interpreted as a root system of a tree, depending on how one chooses to look at it.

I think that's what the essay is telling us. Ecologists have discovered that forests do not consist only of trees which are competing with each other to get sunlight. Trees which look separate actually have their roots and mushrooms intertwined with one another, enabling them to share water, nutrients, and chemicals. Old trees help the young and weaker ones. A forest is a community that can survive only as a community. Blum illustrates the cooperation of colors of the New York subway system, red, green, blue, and orange, and New York works in the same way, with millions of its inhabitants connected by the tunnels in the ground, even if they don’t realize it.

Overall, I actually appreciate that the MTA showcases art in places meant for commercial activities because it gave me something to stare at and zone out into for about 15 minutes.