Interpretations of the Art in São Paulo Subway Stations

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the permanent and temporary works of art installed in the stations of the São Paulo Metro with a view toward explicating the meanings attributed to them. The method used is a comparitive study based on qualitative and quantitative data available in bibliographies and dissertations about the Metro and from material published by communication media, in addition to photographic records of works and in loco research projects involving users, maintenance technicians, and monitors of temporary exhibitions of works developed by means of technological devices. From the results, it can be seen that the interactive works representative of the technological transformations and social behaviors that the contemporary world has experienced were met with great receptivity on the part of the users/spectators/ actors – as was also the case for the permanently installed works. There is evidenced a diversity of cultural, social, historical, affective, esthetic, environmental, ecological, and above all, political and economical meanings that have influenced – together with the absence of curatorship, of public policies and of hybrid and innovative project solutions – the process of insertion/presentation of this educationative cultural element into the social spaces of the stations.