As Politicians Break Promises, This Public Artwork Keeps Them
Paul Ramírez Jonas debuted his participatory artwork “Public Trust” months before Trump was first elected. A decade on, it feels more urgent than ever.
Last month, Paul Ramírez Jonas invited the people of Toronto to sit down with a stranger in a public space, make a promise, swear on it, see it spelled out on a large-scale marquee, and then memorialize it in a one-of-a-kind contract they kept. One of hundreds of such vows was: “I promise to disagree better.”
Ramírez Jonas’s participatory public artwork “Public Trust,” presented by The Bentway (where Anna Gallagher-Ross directs programming), was commissioned and first showcased by Now + There (founded by Kate Gilbert and later renamed the Boston Public Art Triennial) in 2016, months before Donald Trump was elected as president.
“Public Trust” was the Now + There’s first project, a labor of love for its one-and-a-half-person team, and has since set the standard for its commissions. The promises made by everyday Bostonians — often similar in their commitments to family or self-improvement but coming from very different walks of life — were juxtaposed with daily headlines, including promises by politicians, corporations, weather forecasters, and more. This intermingling of commitments, both personal and authoritative, invites us to reflect on the power of our words, participation, and role in the democratic process. Ramírez Jonas often quips that he would like this project to one day become irrelevant.
Ten years later, in the lead-up to our municipal election in Toronto, we could think of no better project to invite people to reflect on the power of their words and their participation. Why does the simple act of sitting across from a stranger and making a promise feel more important than ever?
