Stephen Shaheen designed this original seat using 5,000 New York subway cards.
Talking about his work, Stephen explains that it is a sculpture made from recycled materials, though one designed with a fairly specific concept in mind. The cards, disposable and apparently useless, inspired him to use them in a very “personal” way, one that “reflects how public transport brings many different lives together in a shared moment and journey.”
“Subway cards represent people in motion, while the Metrobench offers them a place to rest. Millions of New Yorkers, each with their own life, cross paths every day on public transport. In this seat, each card, with its own personal travel history, is fused with the others into a fluid tapestry.”
Stephen recounts that he collected the 5,000 cards in a single week, with the help of ordinary New Yorkers reached through Craiglist. “There is something very personal about handling such small objects that once travelled in the pockets of so many different people. It’s like untold stories.”
A few words about the designer of the Metrobench
Stephen Shaheen is an artist and designer who trained and worked in Italy but lives in New York. The indoor and outdoor installations he has created are held in private and public collections in Europe and the United States. Stephen is also president and artist of the Memoria Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to designing and building an installation in New Jersey in honor of the lives lost on September 11th.
Source: www.freshome.com
