Key Takeaways
- "The Goodbye Line" is an art project using Los Angeles payphones for goodbye messages.
- It provides a unique public space for processing loss and fostering community connection.
- The project highlights the distinct nature of payphone communication versus cell phone calls.
- Organizers manage emotionally intense messages while preserving the project's intent.
Deep Dive
- The "Goodbye Line" art project utilizes Los Angeles payphones to collect goodbye messages from strangers.
- Created by Adam Trunnell and Alexis Wood, it has been active for over a year.
- It aims to provide an outlet for individuals to process loss, grief, and community connection.
- Listeners can make a collect call to leave a message for a loved one, pet, or part of themselves.
- The number of active payphones in California has drastically decreased, with only 149 remaining in Los Angeles proper.
- Co-creator Adam Trunnell suggests payphone calls create a more present and deliberate experience than cell phone calls.
- Messages from neighborhoods like Hollywood and Skid Row tend to be more emotionally intense.
- The project receives calls weekly, with each number saved and noted with emojis corresponding to their locations.
- The project of collecting goodbye messages can take an emotional toll on organizers, as illustrated by calls such as one saying goodbye to a deceased mother.
- Calls range from revealing deep emotions and unexpected moments of humanity to being lighthearted or drunken.
- A specific message from May of the previous year was a goodbye to a lost love named Donnie.
- Artist S.C. Miro views the collected messages as "mini short stories," appreciating their open-ended nature.
- Brittany Khalifa, a formerly unhoused woman battling addiction, left a message seeking a way out of her struggles.
- The project was initially conceived to hear people's voices in reaction to the social media age, offering a communal space for spoken goodbyes.
- Project organizers avoid posting calls involving romantic drama, deeming messages to exes as trivial.
- The goodbye line serves as a reminder of life's impermanence, encouraging goodbyes and prompting people to maintain connections.
- Project organizers Adam Trunnell and Alexis Wood face challenges managing messages, including using vintage equipment for posting.
- They decide which messages to share publicly and actively seek out active payphones.
- The art project has expanded, with messages collected during creators' vacations, including one in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- Despite not receiving calls from every sticker, the project has resonated with people, confirming it fills a void.