People are posting their deepest, darkest secrets on The Waiting Wall for everyone to see

2 months ago

There is now a place in Brighton where you can beam your most deepest secrets and darkest thoughts.

The Waiting Wall allows people to submit anonymous confessions that are then projected onto a large screen at Brighton station.

The display, a digital art installation which is a part of the Brighton Digital Festival, was inspired by Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall.

The project is the brainchild of musician Alan Donohoe and software developer Steven Parker – creative partners of digital publisher Free The Trees.

Their idea for The Waiting Wall came from author Alain de Botton’s suggestion that Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall could be adapted for the digital age.

“Inspired by the book Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton, The Waiting Wall, referencing commuters’ experiences, is an electronic display of Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, ‘that would anonymously broadcast our inner woes’, thereby reminding us that ‘we are none of us alone in the extent of our troubles and lamentations’,” they wrote on their blog.

Donohoe said that they had to filter the messages, in an interview with The Guardian.

“We did get spammed, though,” he said. “Some idiot wrote, ‘Free donuts! Not really, but check out my website’, that sort of thing. The original plan was to live-stream everything with no filter, but we decided we needed some vetting. We’ve tried to keep it as free as possible, but gratifyingly there’s been no hate speech or ugliness.”

Although the messages posted are pretty bleak, Donohoe hopes “people feel comforted by having a space where they can share these thoughts. As it says in de Botton’s book, some of life’s biggest questions don’t have any answers, but there’s some consolation in knowing that we haven’t been singled out for persecution, and that we’re all battling the same things.”

So far, people have been sending everything from drugs and sex to losing their loved ones.

If you are feeling super existential you don’t need to head to Brighton station. Messages can be posted and read at thewaitingwall.com.