The Subway is not (only) an Art Gallery: A Critical Analysis of Union Station's Zones of Immersion Main Menu

Public Contraversies

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    As Zones of Immersion was installed, it was quickly met with a negative reaction. Ben Spurr with the Toronto Star asked “Is the New Public Art at Union Station Depressing?” Members of the public described the piece as “creepy” and “tragic.” The darkness of the shadows and the emptiness of many of the figures is off-putting to many casual observers.  Matthew Whyte of the Toronto Star identifies the issue as “gap between what Zones of Immersion means to achieve and where it lands” (Whyte). Whyte articulates that while the piece is intended to provide a communal experience, the humanity in Zones of Immersion is intangible. The criticisms gathered by the Toronto Star focus on how Zones of Immersion makes people feel in the fleeting time before their train arrives, rather than the quality or message of the piece, which may have been a larger focus in a traditional gallery setting. Veering further from the message of the piece, in Spurr’s Toronto Star article, Brad Ross, a spokesperson for the TTC defended the piece, expressing that it “captures, in fact, the modernization efforts of the TTC.”  Ross does not identify the qualities he believes reflects the advances made by the TTC. However, in the TTC approval document of Zones of Immersion, it is articulated that the primary criteria for the selection of the piece was based on “public safety” with a strong focus on the physical qualities of the piece such as durability and cleanliness (TTC Report). Thus, it seems that Ross, as well as decision makers within the Commission, appreciate primarily the structural function of Zones of Immersion as a dividing wall which is also an art piece.
    Following the controversy sparked through the Toronto Star article, multiple interviews with Reid were released from a variety of local online sources. In many of these articles, there is a noticeable effort to improve upon the initial public reaction. Most of the articles refer to the selection process as an “international competition” (Goodden; Gupta; Canadian Architect) . This choice of terminology is interesting because while there were no restrictions on who could submit a proposal, the RFP documents were required to be picked up in-person at the TTC’s Project Procurement Section (Kari). Though the selection process may technically be considered an “international competition,” there is no currently accessible record which documents the usage of such language prior to the selection of Zones of Immersion. Such a change may be interpreted as a response to the negativity surrounding the piece. It obscures the fact that one could only receive the information for the competition if one was physically located in Toronto while retroactively assuring members of the public that appropriate processes were followed regarding the selection of the piece. 
    In his interviews, Reid maintained a strong focus on the message and meaning of the art, stating “public art has to be art first and public second” (qtd. in Goodden). Reid asserts his work is based in realism. Regarding the people which inspired this realism, Reid states “they get up, they go to work, they come home, and they’re beat.” He asserts that this is not a dour interpretation, rather it is “just part of what’s going on.” Reid himself does not seem to be certain how his art should be received. When Goodden asked Reid about the public reaction to Zones of Immersion he stated that he has worked to create “something that would give [the people of Toronto] psyche and aliveness and coolness and the sense that they are valued.” This is contradictory to Reid’s statement in Spurr’s Toronto Star article in which he compares Zones of Immersion to “listening to the blues when you’re already feeling down. ‘It meets you where you’re at and deepens that experience.’” While the first quote provided is similar to his other commentary on the collective experience of the subway, in the following quote Reid explains more explicitly that part of the impact he expects to elicit from Zones of Immersion is a deep exploration of negative feelings.

Contents of this path:

  1. Background