Art of The Metro Gold Line

At the South Pasadena Station, located at the intersection of Mission Street and Meridian Avenue, stands a statue titled Astride-Aside. It was created by artist Michael Stutz, and installed at the site on February 6^th, 2003. It is a work of public art commissioned by Metro Art of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. According to an article from the USC website, the City of South Pasadena demanded that the work reflected its surroundings and “a sense of community.” Michael Stutz was eventually chosen for this task after the design of the initial artist selected, Richard Hall, was not satisfactory. Michael Stutz was extremely considerate of the city in preparing the concept of the sculpture. He believed that the City of South Pasadena with “self-confidence”, and he wanted to incorporate this feeling and the city’s use of iron. Stutz designed the sculpture of the walking man with all these things in mind. He also used elements of the natural surroundings, for example the outstretched arms and legs of the work are meant to mimic the branches of the trees. This makes the work of art unique to its location, as it can only truly represent the spirit of South Pasadena. The material used for Aside-Astride is bronze. Michael Stutz first created models out of clay and woven paper. He then showed the models to fabricator Carlson & Co, where they made annealed bronze strips for the sculpture. Using an additive method, the bronze strips were arranged and welded together over a skeletal frame.  Finally, the sculpture was attached onto two granite blocks (with a third one in front) and installed at the train station.

Art in My Neighborhood

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 ART IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD (WITH VOICEOVER)
  

TRANSCRIPT

Heading for LA, I exit the freeway on Alameda and make my way towards the Art District. I immediately see tagging and graffiti all over the walls of buildings. However, the piece I’m looking for is at the intersection of 7^th and Mateo. I park right in front of it and the work overwhelms me with its size and colors. It is clear to see that the work might’ve been done by more than one artist. The man and woman are painted in distinctly different styles. Noticing the signatures, it appears that Shepard Fairey, Roa 1 and David Choe all contributed to this work. I couldn’t find much information on the rest of artworks I ran into on 7^th street. Nonetheless, they were all extremely interesting. These two murals facing each other were opposites in every aspect. To my left it was a bright and abstract painting. To my right it was a font littered with realistic, over-sized crows; a slightly dark and ominous feeling. Next, there was a smaller painting that represented a forest of pine trees. This work was written over, probably by someone else. It wrapped around the corner and reached a bear with a man.  This work was unique because it shows how painting on something like a structure or building can incorporate elements of the surface with the work. Then we move onto works of art that have been painted on the sectioned panels of a building. I couldn’t find information on the first panel. The second panel was done by an artist named Aiko who is known for her feminine cartoon-like art. The third panel, an extremely abstract and neutral-toned work with no clear markings or signature. The fourth panel features a fantastical element that appears to have been done by “Ceba?” The fifth panel has a bubbly cartoon girl painted by artist Deb. The sixth panel is of an intense-looking face in blues and reds, done by Meggs. I couldn’t find information on the artists for the last three panels. Street art inspires me in many ways. It inspires me because it is on the street. Any time of day you could walk by a building, a wall, that you saw a million times before, and suddenly it would have a magnificent piece of art upon it. Street art also inspires me because many artists use it in order to get a message across. Overall, I find street art as something that is overlooked and perhaps looked down upon. Yet, it is an art form that I greatly admire.