People Are Anonymously Posting Secret Confessions On A Giant Screen At A British Train Station

Need to get something off your chest? Perhaps a deep, dark secret that you've been carrying with you for years and now, all you want to do is tell a train station full of strangers by posting it on a giant screen?

This is what an art installation at Brighton station in the south of England is letting people do. Anyone who wants can submit a confession, secret, or statement and it will be projected on a huge display so commuters can read it while they await their train. It's called The Waiting Wall and is part of the Brighton Digital Festival, running from September 21 to September 27.

The piece is by Alan Donohoe and Steven Parker, collectively known as Free The Trees, who say it's a digital version of Jerusalem's Wailing Wall. They were inspired to make it after an idea in British philosopher and writer Alain de Botton's book Religion for Atheists.

Botton wrote about "An electronic version of The Wailing Wall… would anonymously broadcast our inner woes… The wall would offer a basic yet infinitely comforting – public acknowledgement that … none us are alone in the extent of our troubles."

The creators explain:

It’s often when waiting, for something or someone, that there is the time to reflect. This can be uncomfortable or it can be a blessing: a break from rushing around where we are never quite alone with our thoughts. Let worries, regrets and hopes bubble to the surface. Anonymously share them with the wall so we can all find consolation from the fact that none of us are alone in our private world of innermost feelings. Visit thewaitingwall.com to see the wall and post a message. Let your private thoughts out and contribute to something beautiful.

Donohoe explains more about the inspiration behind the project in this blog post. You can check out some of the thoughts people have submitted below, some of which are quite dark.

And you can view and submit a message here.