MISSED CONNECTIONS
New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority Design, NYCMTA, Fulton Street Transit Hub, New York, NY
This proposal for series of permanent, multi-media public art installations for the Fulton Street Transit Hub was a finalist in the invited competition for the NYC MTA. Conceived for the four idiosyncratic parts of the complex’s extensive environs, Missed Connections mines the abundant data found daily in the NY Craig’s List category of the same name.The project’s four components each use edited personal notes from the List to make clear the great potential for social interaction that exists in the transit system. Personal encounters – momentary eye-contact, a shared smile, brief conversation, or perceived mutual attraction – occur continuously and are documented on Craig’s List as a series of last-ditch attempts to reconnect with people that slipped in and out of their lives all too quickly. These encounters are made public with live data feeds through a series of LED displays in the main Oculus Hub (Connecting Lines), by Split Flap displays in the Dey Street concourse (Parallel Lines), via printed sign bands on subway platforms (Missed Connections), and with the instigation of new encounters across subway platforms (Site Lines).
Created in collaboration with artist Ben Rubin (EAR Studio) and graphic designer Lisa Strausfeld.
