Print

Physical description

Pocket map of the London Underground, which folds into three vertically, with an image on the front of a tangle of lines in the colours used to represent each of the London Underground lines.

Place of Origin

London (probably, made)

Date

2005 (made)

Artist/maker

Shrigley, David (artist)
Platform for Art (commissioned by)
Transport for London (publisher)

Materials and Techniques

Offset lithography on paper

Marks and inscriptions

"London Underground" Top of front cover, white on blue strip
"Tube map" In blue on white towards top of front cover
"October 2005" In red on white towards top of front cover
"MAYOR / OF LONDON" In blue (ON in red) on white towards bottom left of front cover
"Transport for London" In blue on white towards bottom right of front cover
"[London Underground logo]" Red and blue on white, white lettering, towards bottom right of front cover

Dimensions

Height: 14.5 cm
Width: 7 cm (folded)

approximate viewed through glass

Descriptive line

Pocket tube map with cover designed by David Shrigley; United Kingdom, 2005

Labels and date

Each of these free pocket-sized tube maps has a cover commissioned by Platform for Art for London Underground. To explore ideas about mapping and route-finding, the artists used the colours of the lines from the classic tube map devised by Henry Beck (displayed nearby). Emma Kay turned the lines into a series of concentric circles, suggesting a tube tunnel. David Shrigley drew the lines as a confused tangle, to be magically clarified and organised when one unfolds the map. Yinka Shonibare’s design reflects London’s multicultural population and its heritage as the capital of an empire which once spanned 5 continents; he used the Peters projection (1974) which represents the true relative surface areas of each country.

Materials

Paper; Ink

Techniques

Printed

Subjects depicted

Map (transport)

Categories

Prints

Production Type and Product Note

Mass produced

Collection code

PDP