project image
Linda Hesh
CHANCE MEETING DOORKNOB HANGERS

first performed on October 7, 2015
Art in Odd Places Festival, 14th St., New York, NY
performed three times in 2015

LINDA HESH

Alexandria, VA
linda@lindahesh.com
lindahesh.com

CHANCE MEETING DOORKNOB HANGERS
LINDA HESH

“Chance Meeting Doorknob Hangers” utilizes statements imagining a chance meeting between acquaintances on the street to create a large artwork and involve hundreds of people who happen upon the project. Eight phrases were printed in simple, black letters on 11 x 4.25 inch white doorknob hangers. I hung these in a repeating narrative on every doorknob across all of 14th St. in New York City, from river to river. I performed this entire piece three times during the Art in Odd Places Festival using 1,500 doorknob hangers. Left behind for passersby to pick up, a social media response was encouraged with a # printed on the back. As I walk across the city, installing these brief messages, the diverse sections of 14th St. were momentarily connected. The printed text called out to individuals as they passed by. “Is it really you?” “I was just thinking of you” “How have you been?” The phrases surprise with their directness triggering an automatic urge to answer. Amid the colorful retail chaos and constant flow of hurrying pedestrians, my text stands out in its bold simplicity. My purpose is to give literally hundreds of people a moment apart from their everyday experience. And if I turn around and look behind me down the street, I can see this happening as people stop, look, and take a doorknob hanger.