Flatbush Floogies
Seen in 2/5 Flatbush Avenue Subway Station
Flatbush Floogies, created by Muriel Castanis in 1996, is a work of public art commissioned by MTA Arts for Transit and MTA New York City Transit. This bronze relief depicts nymphs on a couple of plaques and is strategically placed on either side of the assistance booth prior to the turnstiles in the Flatbush Avenue subway station. Thus, any color fading of the relief is not due to sun exposure but simply to the natural decay of bronze’s luster and color. Other than metallic bronze, the only other color is the gray-green of the nymphs’ robes. The long, flowing robes that connect the nymphs are draped around shapes that look like humans, but the bodies are not actually visible. Because of its internal setting and subway lighting, the time of day at which the relief is viewed is not important. This is good because the station is active at all times of day and this way people can enjoy the art whenever they choose to travel.
Seen in 2/5 Flatbush Avenue Subway Station
These long, rectangular plaques are easily noticeable to anyone who enters the subway station and spares a glance to the tiled wall. However, I only noticed this artwork very recently because normally when I enter the subway, I dilly-dally and observe the walls only once I am actually on the platform waiting for the train. Since Flatbush Floogies is placed in the area before the turnstiles, it had never caught my eye until I was specifically looking for public art for this assignment. Although I had never noticed it before, the piece has been there for quite some time. Created in 1996, it has been at home in the 2/5 Flatbush Avenue station since at least 1998. This piece of artwork is specifically geared towards Brooklynites since it depicts the history of the borough, touching on the Canarsie tribe and baseball’s Brooklyn Dodgers.
