Ars in the tube

A colored explosion of shapes and materials in an accelerated, rhythmic, colorful montage. A film documentary  about contemporary art in the new Subway’s stations of Napoli: 90 artists have produced roughly 180 works. Imaginary alphabets, shiny steel surface reflecting the vivid orange and pink colors of the multicolored floor. Lightboxes, lenticular panels, marble, wood, mosaics, photographs, plastic, metal. Materials and forms straight from the belly of the Earth. These trains take travelers beyond where they think they’re going. It is a journey through time, through spirit, through culture. Present, past and future intermingle, in the embrace of time. “Art is here with us, watching us” - says Achille Bonito Oliva, the museum curator. We'll listen to the artists and the architects, we’ll see the characters and images in the artworks becoming alive, taking a shape and moving on our side like witnesses of a new creating world. What are the stories hiding in these works?  What are the concepts? what are the effects in people lives?
There are 7 Metro stations, already completed, we will discover in the movie. One for all, at the "Toledo" award winning station opened last year, between religion and paganism, myth and literature, William Kentridge tells the story of the city of Naples. The light leads us down to a 40-meter deep crater designed by Oscar Tusquets Blanca and Robert Wilson. Further down, Francesco Clemente and his dancers. The depths of the metro are illuminated by the Mediterranean Mother Pistoletto and tubular neons of Kosuth.  The last two stations (still in construction) we will follow until their completion. Out of the belly of Naples come shades of red, blue, yellow, lilac, black. Sunlight plunges into her entrails, and is mixed with synthetic colors, digital; sometimes, light appears suddenly, then slowly fades away. The halls welcome the spectator-traveler with artistic visions.  Naples, a city sadly famous for its garbage and the Camorra, has succeeded in transforming simple public transportation into a multi-sensory experience and a permanent exhibition of contemporary art. The film will show how this can be an example of citizenship awareness through the living experience of culture and art.