D.R. Isaias (Melquix) Ortega
Subterranean
1999
Mexico

Conceptual Description

Chaos and loneliness; fantasy; virtual reality; daily reality. Everything seems possible now. Technology evolves, but where are we left standing? Situated between the modernity of yesterday and the nanotechnology of tomorrow, some watch from the edge of the platform while others are caught up in speedy trains and taken through unpredictable tunnels.

In the particular tunnels and hallways of Mexico City's Metro, millions of human relationships are generated. It's like an artery system that runs through the city, high blood pressure and all, reaching heart attack proportions at rush hour; it can collapse but it doesn't die. If it did, the city would become chaotic, just short of anarchy.

On the other hand, we are the witnesses of social withdrawal and low tolerance levels; the impossible communication between human beings. The current economic order has us constantly in transition and our moral, economic and social values are always changing. Massive loneliness is a curious phenomenon in this era of communication and globalization.

There are people who desperately seek a way out and go to the metro, jump and disappear. The system stops for a moment, but then absorbs and continues. Another number for the newspaper's annual scoreboard.

We are an army of millions that move daily through tunnels that have their own rules and habits. Most of us are only passing through, that's why we are called passengers. But, for others, the tunnels are a way of life. They live and work there. It is truly the "underground" of the Megacity: Mexico City.