Artist Talks Subway Etiquette Signs

Photo via leonem's flickr

The West Village artist behind the subway etiquette signs, Jason Shelowitz (aka jayshells), is being embraced by the masses for his good deed/public art project. He's created around 400 of the posters, all calling out straphanger's on their unsavory underground habits. So far only 50 are up, and the NY Post notes that he used double-sided tape that won't leave a mess once the sign is removed (he is the etiquette artist after all!).

While there's a $25 fine for illegally placing posters in the subway system, so far he hasn't had any problems—and in the below interview he says he even witnessed some transit employees reading the signs and laughing. It's really kind of shocking no one has done this before—considering there are plenty of online outlets calling out commuters on their bad habits.

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By Jen Carlson in Arts & Entertainment on April 22, 2010 10:57 AM

Comments [rss]

stolo

all the civilized people are thinking it. mta should start hanging these posters and giving out fines. it's all the low class people that we have to share the subway with. raised by animals. fat bastards eating meals on the train, lazy slobs can't wait 2 minutes to throw their trash in the trash can. ugh. these are the uneducated people who are reproducing while the more socially conscience and considerate are opting not to have kids or adopting kids from these wasted lives

Andreas

This isn't art, this is being a pain in the ass and not having the guts to do it in person.

ccbayer

I wrote about this today, myself - along w/ a few of my own signs. enjoy:

http://p2pideology.com/?p=238

ribaldry

HE SHOULD MAKE A SIGN THAT SAYS KILL ALL PEOPLE THAT BREATHE WRONG

potsmoker

its called culture jamming, its been done for decades, its also called subvertising.

the only differece is now media hungry "artists" dont print up posters sign & number them then put a few up on the subway while mass mailing every art blog for a scoop.

S.K.

This poster artist is taking away union printing jobs.

slyguy

I like the signs, but maybe they're a bit elitist, like an inside joke for the folks who already comply, assuaging the anger of those wanting to call other riders on their rude subway behavior. Hasn't the MTA already tried such campaigns to little effect? To those who would eat greasy fries on the train, stand in front of the doors blocking exiting passengers, take up two seats, and play their MP3 players way too loud, I expect they're not reading the signs.

poetofsorts

yea i know what MTA signs your talking about but no one wants to listen to the MTA. So when you have an outsider doing its like holy hell someone is actually saying what the people that actually ride the trains are thinking. Plus those MTA signs aren't nearly has enteraining.

These Things Wouldn't Happen I

Unnecessary apostrophe in “straphangers.”

Hal 9000

whitecastlerock - "racist" because they're only in english. that's quite an accusation. go do something with your life. your dad should have pulled out early.

whitecastlerock

Yawn-your comments are as fucking lame as your "attempts to make society better" Go back to the New School and brush up on your photoshop skills clown

Hal 9000

i make no attempts to make society better and never claimed to. nor do i trash other peoples work on blogs. calling someone racist is a pretty harsh call don't you think. what is photoshop? and what's a clown? i don't understand your comments. what is the new school? i prefer old school.

whitecastlerock

It was SARCASM-stop being so fucking uptight.... I could give two shits about your work

Hal 9000

ozik - you lost me at having no respect for other peoples work. suck it.

ozik

The gesture is nice, the guys other artwork is awful. Just inept illustrations. If you are loaded enough to live in the West Village, then any failure in the work is pure, unmitigated failure - no excuses about money and materials and the like.

ozik

And learn to use the reply button.

Hal 9000

sorry for not hitting reply. yeah, the west village is pretty pricey. he must be doing something right. art is very personal, i happen to like his work and i am a friend of a friend so i was trying to defend him a bit. but it's good either way that people are discussing it. he's certainly not a failure in any way, nor did he say he was at any point, nor were any excuses for anything ever made. you seem angry. smoke a joint and watch Life in HD. relax homeboy.

ozik

Does he paint on Sundays only, or is he the sort of rich that doesn't have a day job? I like that you say it's personal and money making at the same time. As a friend of a friend, does this person pay for their West Village lifestyle through showing art in bars?

NYC has a hideously messed up art world(s), mostly it's broken by folks with money looking for a hobby or an excuse to play counter culture. I'd've politely nodded and just admired the subway posters if it wasn't for "West Village artist" part - that makes the whole thing smell bad.

And apologies for hollering about the reply button, but so many people here ignore it.

ozik

Actually, that's unnecessarily harsh and I apologize. The posters are awesome, though.

Hal 9000

hey chris "I don't know if I hate this guy more for being passive aggressive or just jumping on other people's work."

well said. it's nice for you to hate strangers who are trying to do something good for society.

i'll bet you have done lots to contribute to making the world a better place, such as, commenting on blogs and sitting on your thumb.

damn you haters