Public Art Right in Your Pocket!

DOG STAR noticed the back of the MetroCard a few weeks ago - sort of dismissed it as an advertisement (too cynical?). 

Then, last week a story in the New York Times about the MetroCard explained it all.

The Days May Be Grim, but Here’s a Good Word to Put in Your Pocket

“The Waterfalls” flowed in the East River. “The Gates” snaked through Central Park. Now New York’s latest large-scale public art project is being exhibited in an even unlikelier space: your wallet.

On the back of seven million MetroCards distributed this fall is a single printed word: “optimism.” Composed in clean, bold, sans-serif letters, it floats in a sea of white just beneath the boilerplate fine print. Another seven million are on the way early next year.

At first glance, the word appears simple and unassuming, a non sequitur easily overlooked amid the blur of travel in the city. Even its creators acknowledge that many subway and bus riders may never see it.   Read more here... 

Here for the artist's website