Apr 01
Anyone who has be on the New York City subway in the past several years knows that the underground transit system is perpetually littered with discarded Metrocards. Sometimes the things can be refilled, but many of the longterm cards are rendered useless the moment their time is up, and those disposal boxes that only exist as a place to get rid of the cards are seemingly perpetually overflowing.
New York artist Steve Shaheen opted to turn waste into art, soliciting people on Craigslist to help him collect disposed cards. In the end, they collected 5,000 Metrocards in less than a week. “There is something very personal about handling so many small belongings that were once riding around in peoples’ pockets,” Shaheen said of the cards. “There are untold personal stories in that inconspicuous, flimsy plastic.”
The cards were placed over a steel frame to construct a flowing bench, which has since gone on to be displayed at NYC’s Sloan Fine Art museum.
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