Memorable journeys

Since the inception of the Tyne and Wear Metro in the 1970s, Nexus, the Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive, has integrated the work of artists into the development of the network. Some 30 years later there are more than 50 permanent public artworks throughout the system.

From the start, Nexus paid special attention to the identity of its stations and the contribution they make to the cultural life of the region. Even the iconic Metro logo, which uses a serif typeface commissioned from the distinguished designer Margaret Calvert, has become part of the region’s sense of place. Similarly, the skills and imagination of artists have been employed to enrich the experience of travelling by public transport, transforming its spaces into places.

In a bid to win and retain customers from the private car, it is not enough simply to run efficient, accessible and safe services. The market is far more sophisticated. Presentation and perception are important, and increasingly there is a premium on the quality of design.

Within this context, an extensive range of opportunities has been realised to engage with artists. Janet Street-Porter recently commented that, “The fact is, artists do see things differently, and by tapping into their imagination Nexus is changing travelling from something you endure to something that it might be possible to enjoy.”

The Art on Transport programme is the realisation of a Public Art policy which uses ‘Percent for Art’ as a strategic funding mechanism. This often enables artists to be involved from the earliest stages of a project. Perhaps the most striking example of this was when the Metro was extended to Sunderland and the artist Morag Morrison was commissioned to create a colour strategy for ten new stations. Her palette of colours, reflecting northern light, is thoughtfully orchestrated in changing sequences of enamel panels to give each station its own identity.

The programme increasingly uses the opportunity to commission temporary works as a way of engaging local communities with their stations and of creating opportunities to work in partnership with other organisations such as Baltic and Forma. Sometimes the temporary can be so successful that it even becomes permanent! In 2003 the artist Michael Pinsky undertook a residency connected to Wallsend Metro Station which, in part, became manifest through the introduction of bilingual English and Latin signage. This must be the only station in the world which permanently cautions passengers, ‘Noli Fumare’.

Earlier this year Nexus launched its most ambitious art project to date when Nayan Kulkarni’s light artwork, ‘Nocturne’, for the QEII Metro Bridge over the River Tyne, was completed. The bridge, with a span of 360 metres, was scheduled to be repainted in 2006. This provided the opportunity to commission an artist to design its livery and to consider how illumination could be used to articulate its structure and its practical and symbolic functions.

Nayan Kulkarni describes how, “Nocturne reflects the energy of cities and the vein of the River Tyne by transforming the way that the QEII Bridge is physically and imaginatively located in Newcastle and Gateshead. Like the slowly moving waters below the steelwork, I wanted to create a work that would constantly change so that at any given moment it will appear in a different state.”

Using 140 LED lights set within the bridge, Nocturne streams colours from digital photographs, donated by people via a dedicated website, as a series of abstract messages (colour barcodes) through the structure. Each day a different image generates the colour messages that pass backwards and forwards across the Tyne. The speed at which the colours flow across the bridge and the intensity of the white light are determined by the ebb and flow of the tide. ‘Nocturne’ imaginatively connects the communities of Newcastle and Gateshead. The work respectfully exploits the engineering of the bridge and is a dynamic response to the home of Joseph Swan, the inventor of the electric light bulb.

Through the Art on Transport programme, artists have been commissioned to make work for tunnels, bridges, platforms, car parks, and even public address systems and ticket backs. It provides the opportunity to enlarge the experience of public transport with a journey of the imagination.