Part 1

Untitled (America/Me) by Glenn Ligon is a billboard at 18th Street and 10th Avenue depicting “AMERICA” in neon letters that are crossed out to just spell “ME.” Ligon based Untitled (America/Me) off of his 2008 installation Untitled, which was a flickering neon sculpture. He captured it in a photograph and added black, hand-drawn X’s of varying size that are bold and somewhat erratic. The X’s seem to be drawn with marker, as the lines aren’t completely straight and bleed a little. The background of the image is white so that AMERICA, big and centered, stands out in neon yellow. The relative simplicity of this artwork compared to the fancy architecture and other detailed pieces along the High Line surprises the viewer— it’s bold and not subtle at all. Ligon makes viewers contemplate the relationship between the individual and the nation, perhaps suggesting that it’s really everyone for themselves. 

On the tour, we began to see how the buildings became closer to and interacted with the High Line, showing gentrification as living near the once-abandoned railway became a status symbol. I find it ironic that Untitled (America/Me) is placed right in the midst of the Lantern House developments, one of the priciest pieces of real estate in the city. Wealthy people romanticize being able to live in those iconic lantern shaped condominiums, and often forget that their neighborhood was once home to factories and the working class. Ligon’s billboard comments on all the wrong virtues that Americans have, stemming from the concept of “rugged individualism”: selfishness, materialism, mistrust, and more.

Part 2

The documentary argued that the High Line was a theater, which I found interesting and also agreed with. There are themes of voyeurism and exhibitionism (e.g. the Standard Hotel— something about the High Line just makes people want to get naked), which makes the park a “platform for viewing art.” There isn’t just art on the High Line; the art is the buildings and the neighborhood itself. The High Line is a piece of urban development that lets people access art and even become art (in the 26th street frame). This is especially significant in Chelsea—a neighborhood populated by artists, galleries, and the Whitney—because I find that some New Yorkers don’t even know about the lively art scene there. The High Line lets both tourists and natives easily access art, allowing a new perspective of New York that combines its history and old buildings with new architecture and modern artwork.