Poems on the Underground

But it isn't just the London Underground that has odd snippets of art on display. I was quite delighted by The People's Monarch which is an art piece by Helen Marshall on display at London Gatwick airport. Amongst the bustle of everyone hurrying to grab their luggage, I enjoyed taking the time to stop and study the different photos. All the little stories hidden within one picture. Easy to let your eyes skim over, but better when you give yourself a moment to properly taking it in.

I wanted to share these examples as a reminder that there are things out there worth paying attention to.

The walls and signs of the London Underground are easy to tune out. Filled mostly with advertising or police warnings - or blocked entirely by the mass of people around you - it is often hard to find reason to pay attention. However, I do find the billboards on the tube more worthwhile than, say, the ads that pop up in your social media feed. There is the occasional gem or product of interest. Strangely, I find filtering to the local area to be a better way to match my interests, than much of the personalised advertising that is attempting to target me more directly. For example, I only became aware of the Fantasy Stories Exhibit at the British Library (and some of the amazing artwork shown there) due to an ad I spotted at whilst waiting at the platform. Which was something I much enjoyed going to see and that I might have otherwise missed.

Another worthwhile project is Poems on the Underground, which highlights poetry for people to read as they make their journey. The one I first read is the poignant Long Exposure by Garous Abdolmalekian. It was something that filled my mind for the duration of my trip and stayed with me even after that. Poetry is something I long thought I disliked, perhaps mentally bucketing into "pretentious", but have since found several impactful examples that made me change my mind - John Green's video I, Too, Dislike It resonated a lot with me. I do like the idea that Poems on the Underground might similarly encourage others who dismiss them to instead engage with poems.