Spoiler Alert

Newmindspace & Jason Eppink present: Spoiler Alert

The Spoiler Alert signs are faith-enhancing adjustments to New York City subway platforms, creating opportunities for trust in the city's most important institution in the face of its overeager self-quantified broadcasts.

In 2007, the New York City Transit Authority began installing LED signs on subway platforms that display estimated wait times for arriving trains. Unfortunately the information is little more than trivia: except for a few stations, it is only visible to travelers after they've paid their fare, so the data has little bearing on commuter decision-making.

Their primary effect, then, is to erode faith in the system, to create expectations that can't always be met, to raise false hopes, and to erase the mystery and magic of the wondrous system that transports more than five million riders a day.

These LED signs also threaten historical social behaviors, rendering obsolete the time-honored New York tradition of leaning over the platform edge with the hope of glimpsing headlights from an approaching train.

The Spoiler Alert signs warn waiting riders of this potentially unwanted information -- allowing them to avert their eyes so they may preserve their spirit of adventure -- while still leaving visible the data for travelers who wish to ruin the surprise for themselves.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• newmindspace
• jason eppink
• kevin bracken
• nyc
• nyc subway
• nyct
• mta
• prank
• installation art

[JasonEppink]

@westofthemoon Does your comment mockery make you a hipster? Because that would be extra ironic.

[littlejudy]

@JasonEppink The title is awesome, it's the description, because that gets ported to some sites (FB) when you share the video. Maybe change "The Spoiler Alert signs are faith-enhancing adjustments to New York City subway platform" to "The new digital countdown clocks in the subway are faith enhancing..." so they don't know an actual "spoiler alert" sign is coming!

[TezukaKohei]

Beautiful! It's a shame the other stations don't have it, especially ones with MAJOR INTERSECTIONS like Roosevelt Avenue for christ sakes. How much time would be saved if we knew when which train was coming so we could multi-task and get other things done AROUND the train station instead of wasting time idly waiting for a train that may NEVER come??? (Which seems to be the case after 10pm every weekday).

[seanward]

Effin' hilarious!  love it.

[westofthemoon]

@JasonEppink No it doesn't but thanks for playing

[lyamwins]

@andrewweiz a company? wow! pathetic.. and what's with the "noob" comment?

[andrewweiz]

@lyamwins yea its really not surprising, considering its the same company noob..

[lyamwins]

just ghey hipster shit... and, not surprisingly, the next recommended video is "nyc pillow fight 2009." *sigh* x_X

[JasonEppink]

@littlejudy I totally agree, but we couldn't come up with a non-spoiling title. Any ideas?

[littlejudy]

I think you need a spoiler alert for the project description! It's more fun when the surprise comes in the video.