In 2015, artist Matthew Chavez was recovering from a bike accident that left him within the hospital for 3 weeks and unable to stroll for months when he planted the seeds for Subway Remedy, a public participatory artwork mission that has develop into a phenomenon throughout the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) system.
“I thought a lot about how grateful I was for my family and my friends that showed up for me,” Chavez mentioned in an interview with Hyperallergic. “I thought: You know what? I want to show up for people that don’t have that in New York.”
That Christmas Day, Chavez mentioned got down to develop into the “New York Secret Keeper,” asking strangers to admit a secret with him to lighten the burden of holding it.
“As a stranger, it wouldn’t be so heavy for me, but I’d help them carry the weight,” Chavez mentioned.
Matthew Chavez sitting in entrance of sticky notes (photograph courtesy Matthew Chavez)
Quickly after launching his secret-sharing marketing campaign, Chavez — who is just not a licensed counselor — mentioned he started holding mock remedy periods, organising a cell “office” in subway stations full with wall artwork one may discover in a personal observe and two chairs the place Chavez and contributors would enact therapeutic confessionals.
Subway Remedy gained prominence in November 2016, when Donald Trump secured the White Home for the primary time. Chavez included sticky notes into the efficiency, taking the mission out of the artist’s palms and into the palms of the 1000’s of people that trip the subway every day.
This month, Chavez recreated the mission in the course of the week of November 7, capturing a uncommon glimpse into the ideas of New Yorkers following the election.
On the peak of the mission’s post-election recognition in 2016, disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo left a observe of his personal: “New York State holds the torch high! – Andrew C.” Strangers left messages together with “Trump is inhumane,” “Love to my Muslim brothers and sisters,” offended sentiments towards the electoral faculty, and the favored slogan “Love Trumps Hate.”
Examples of messages posted on particular person notes in an underpass within the 14th Road subway advanced
Eight years later, the rhetoric hanging from the neon Publish-it squares is completely different. Whereas there was barely any room for even another sticky observe on the Union Sq. station in 2016, this yr’s confessionals are extra sparsely populated, and their messages appear much less reactive to a Trump win.
Chavez arrange a store between November 5 and 10 in an underpass on the 14th Road subway advanced with a immediate spelled out in tacked notes: “What’s on your mind?”
Scribbled messages from this month included calls to motion like “Free all innocent Black men and women,” “Love and Protect Trans People,” “Free Cuba,” and “Democrat or Republican, they both send billions to Israel, ditch the bread and circuses.” Extra frequent than overtly political statements on this yr’s crop of notes, nonetheless, had been contributors’ witty private observations.
A subway author jots down a message.
In English, Spanish, and French, passersby contributed intimate ideas to the general public wall, maybe indicating an ambivalence to this yr’s election. “Gracias New York por permitirme conocer al chico de mis sueños,” one observe written in cursive learn. (“Thanks New York for letting me meet the boy of my dreams.”)
Others wrote “Just had an amazing date,” “The price of a coffee is wild [sic] expensive,” “This wall is vibrating it makes me cry,” “Brat,” “I miss my family and boyfriend,” and “Quiero Taco Bell.” Different notes shared most cancers diagnoses, grief for misplaced mother and father, and psychological well being struggles.
Chavez attributes the distinction within the messages to a change on this yr’s immediate. “In the past, I’ve done ‘Express yourself for the election,’” Chavez mentioned. An statement that has remained regular through the years, he defined, is the persistent want for public expression amongst New Yorkers.
Chavez has additionally began his personal nonprofit, Listening Lab, which hosts occasions and workshops on listening and “community development.” Now he manages Subway Remedy by way of the group and sends volunteers underground for the mission’s subway pop-ups at stations together with Columbus Circle and Union Sq..
“One thing that is so ever-present is how much people need opportunities to express themselves in shared space,” Chavez mentioned. “There’s this huge divide, this big chasm between people who are experiencing the same thing.”
Riders cease to contribute their very own notes.
