Loose Change

Loose Change is a 1,300-foot-long chain of scratcher tickets, which encircled the block bounded by Grand Street, Manhattan Avenue, Maujer Street, and Leonard Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I lived on this block for five months in 2021, including during the creation and installation of the piece. The approximately 5,000 scratchers in the chain are all losing tickets — scratched and discarded by their purchasers — which I found on the sidewalk and in deli trashcans across New York City. The majority were taken from the trash at Eleven Seven Deli in Bushwick, Brooklyn (Dekalb Ave and Wyckoff Ave). The piece was installed on the morning of June 17, 2021, and remained on the block for an hour and a half.

Thank you to Georgica Pettus for the footage documenting the piece, and to Clifford Prince King for the photographs. Thank you to Aidan, Alejandro, Arielle, Ashby, Clifford, Eddie, Elisabeth, Henry, Jack, Margaret, Marilyn, Morgan, Oscar, Rachel, Sabina, Saúl, Tara, and everyone else who helped facilitate the installation of this piece. Thank you to all the neighbors and passerby who stopped to speak with me and give feedback on this piece. And special thanks to Ismael at Eleven 7 Deli (Wyckoff Ave and Dekalb Ave) for allowing me to take the scratchers from his garbage can.