A New York City based ceramicist and designer went viral on social media when she posed the question, “What if missing tiles don’t become a maintenance request, what if they instead become tiny canvases for artists to fill?”
The Korean American artist, Eujue, noticed that the “E” tile within “Delancey” at the Delancey Street-Essex Street subway station on the Lower East Side was missing.
Eujue decided to fill the missing tile gap with her own artwork. Eujue said she worked with multiple versions over the course of a few weeks to replace the “E.”
She took inspiration from plants naturally reclaiming abandoned spaces that had originally belonged to them.
After taking approximate measurements of the tile using her phone’s built-in measurement app, Eujue sculpted and fired her own ceramic tile to fit within the space.
As opposed to making a replica of the rest of the tiles, she decided to add her artistic flare to the piece.
To represent such a reclaimed space, she grew chia seeds to create the “E” shape within the tile.
Though some users online questioned the longevity of the title, Eujue responded in a comment, “Yes!! my tile is very temporary, but hopefully encouraged ppl to look up for a bit.”
To move forward with her project of artist contributions as opposed to standard missing tile repairs, Eujue and her brother created the NYC Tile Watch website, according to The New York Post.
On the website, commuters are able to upload photos of tiles to report them as missing, with the ability to make a suggestion for what they would like to see fill the new space. While some left it up to the artists, New Yorkers began to pitch creative ways to fill in the space that still stayed true to the geographical area of the city or the station design itself.
For a missing tile at Astor Place station, the reporter suggested “something ghostly” to coincide with the NYC urban legend of the station’s late-night phantom train.
Another reporter requested a museum mammal diorama inspired tile to fill in the space at the 81st Street–Museum of Natural History station.
Eujue also opened a form for NYC artists to declare their participation in the possible program.
Just days after the original viral post, Eujue shared that a representative from the Mayor’s Office reached out requesting that she fill out their New Media Intake Form to formally submit her proposal.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority reportedly removed the tile. They cited the removal as within their policy to “immediately remove anything that is posted within the station that has not been authorized by New York City Transit.”
The tile space is now empty once again, as the MTA has yet to replace it.
The MTA has an active repair program in place for revitalizing various stations, REVIVE, which tackles improvements both structurally and aesthetically.
However, they put particular emphasis on structural integrity and safety, with the aesthetic look acting more as a bonus now.
Eujue has not made any comments in reference to the tile removal or how the proposed program will proceed moving forward.
