Video: New Interactive Public Art Installation Asks Us To Consider The Meaning Of A Promise

When Melania Trump stared straight into the camera and said, “My word is my bond,” and those words were stolen — whose bond was it? Were the words binding at all? Did that constitute a public promise? What value do any of our words have, and has that value wavered over time?

These are among the questions stimulated by a new free public art installation called "Public Trust," which is currently making the rounds here in Boston. It was commissioned by Kate Gilbert, director of NOW + THERE and was executed by Brooklyn-based artist Paul Ramirez Jonas, whose interactive art exhibit I saw in action.

"Public Trust" has moved on from Roxbury’s Dudley Square and Kendall Square in Cambridge to its final stop in Copley Square (Sept. 11-17) for a total of 21 days in Greater Boston. With the help of 13 "Artist Ambassadors," everyone who makes a promise will see it posted on the big billboard, as well as online and eventually gathered in a book.

With production by WBUR's Robin Lubbock