Yesterday's Op-Art by Christoph Niemann pokes whimsical fun at NYC's aging subway system, where a recent fire destroyed some century-old electromechanical switches and caused many riders the opposite of fun. Niemann's passel of little cartoons depicts the purported ancient origins of underground commonplaces like the tripartitle revolving doors (made from a dinosaur's spiky tail), the train's engines (galley slaves, which would explain a lot) and service advisory posters (the tablets handed down on Mount Sinai). As usual, Niemann is an unrivaled stylist but a rather restrained humorist: Where are the gags about subway pest control or the highway banditry of rising fares? The closest he gets to a real jibe is to compare those garbled P.A. system announcements to the inscrutable pronouncements of the Sphinx. Though the MTA gets off too easy here, still I bet New York kids loved this piece—at least, the ones who got to see it. It's like getting a tiny, Niemann-penned children's book in the middle of your big boring black-and-white Times. And the subway map as cave painting ("circa 20,000 BC") is pretty priceless. (Note: Can't seem to generate a permalink to this page, so I'm afraid this art may not be accessible from here for long.)
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