The words written on the manhole cover, “In direct line with another and the next,” refers to the grid pattern of New York City’s streets. Instead of a precious sculpture set on a pedestal, Lawrence Weiner’s sculpture is walked upon by tourists and residents of the city. According to the Public Art Fund’s press release, the work “also refers to the odd democracy of the New York City. While a city of vast extremes, the rich and poor, powerful and disenfranchised still all wait for the same ‘don’t walk’ signs to change when crossing the street. Standing on line, riding the subway, walking down the street, New Yorkers are always ‘in direct line with another and the next.'”
They can be found in 19 locations below Union Square.
Weiner is one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. His work often takes the form of typographic texts. He is regarded as a founding figure of Postminimalism’s Conceptual arm, which includes artists like Douglas Huebler, Robert Barry, Joseph Kosuth, and Sol LeWitt.
edited from CultureNOW
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