Chris Hosea's Postcard Project Lends Delight to Noncommercial Encounters Between Strangers

Chris Hosea writes about the time(s) he handed out over 2,000 postcards to strangers in New York City, noting that "The postcard project (aka 'What do you feel?'; 2011-ongoing)" "was designed to enable a simple, neutral transaction."

...I approach someone (usually a stranger) and say, “Hi, I’m an artist working on a project. I’d like to give you a postcard. There is a question on the back. Answer any way you want. There is my address. It’s already stamped. Take your time. When you are ready, drop it in a mailbox. When I get your postcard, I will post it on the website you see printed on the card.”

To date, I have handed out over 2,000 postcards, and about 300 have been sent back. Whether or not the project is genuinely therapeutic is uncertain. I soon shed my timorousness. I continued giving out postcards, though, interested in the simple repetition of my patter and subject response, which took on various tonalities depending on the temperature of each abbreviated encounter. I came to see postcards that did return as Polaroids revealing portraits at once anonymous and specific, drawn by hand. It is also gratifying to see (with just a few, memorable exceptions) gratitude and generosity emerge as soon as subjects perceive I am not selling anything. Although my postcard procedure is in fact transactional and speculative, the unexpected participatory delight of many subjects lent weight to the notion that, in New York City, noncommercial encounters between strangers are relatively rare and relatively enjoyable.

You can view all of the postcards (ongoing) here.