Connect with strangers at this free exhibition at the World Trade Center
In the rush of everyday life as busy New Yorkers, it’s all too easy to lose sight of each other’s humanity. And, as much as we might irritate each other on hot, crowded subway platforms, we all ultimately share a desire to connect and make something of ourselves in this chaotic city.
That shared connectedness is exactly what a new immersive installation at the World Trade Center hopes to remind us of by displaying thousands of anonymous hand written stories collected from all sorts of people.
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The exhibition, called The Strangers Project, will be set up inside the South Concourse of the Oculus at the World Trade Center Thursdays through Sundays from 2pm until 7pm for an indefinite period of time.
The Strangers Project has been around since 2009 and was created by Brooklyn-based artist Brandon Doman, who has traveled around the country to exhibit the heartfelt notes.
Each note contains a true story by a stranger, ranging from hilarious tales to inspiring anecdotes and downright heartbreaking recountings. In the 15 years since the project started, Doman has collected more than 95,000 stories and allowed thousands of strangers to empathize with each other without ever meeting.
If you’ve seen the project before around the city, that’s because the exhibition has hopped around some of the most iconic public spaces, including Washington Square Park, where it lived for several years.
Now, the Oculus has given the exhibit a new home for the foreseeable future—and it feels like the perfect spot, considering it is a transit hub that brings together people from different parts of the city and New Jersey.
The best part of the exhibit, of course, is that it’s ongoing and ever growing. That means that if you’re up for it and want to vent to a stranger, you can leave your own note too, adding to this iconic archive of urban life that we’re pretty sure will continue to inspire New Yorkers for decades to come.
Make sure to follow The Strangers Project on Instagram for more information and updates on the exhibit.