what do you think of "minnesota nice?"

I'm shocked that Metro Council is actually doing something cool for the city. But they are. They commissioned artist Janet Zweig for a public art installation. At 11 stations, there will be tiny screens showing short 90-second clips produced by filmmakers interviewing folks on the cliche, Minnesota Nice. Comics, storytellers, everyday folks are interviewed. I guess these 90-second clips will just loop continuously. I love the idea because of all the subway art I've seen--Boston, NYC, London, Paris, Madrid, Glasgow--all the art, if any, have only been a flat, dimensionless 2-D, not really engaging the public. Maybe because Minnesota is so "nice," they assume they won't deface expensive mechancial art. Hope so.

I'll have to check out Zweig's piece at the U of M. The concept is so simple. Two people sit across from each other on a bench. There's an LCD screen between them, and two tiny cams perched on the top, filming both people at a perfect ratio of 1:1. So what you have are two people talking to each other through an LCD screen.