The Delaware Art Museum announced Monday the acquisition of what curators are calling "the definitive portrait of the Delaware experience": a comprehensive collection of 10,000+ screenshots of I-95 traffic taken by frustrated commuters over the past decade.
"This is contemporary art at its finest," explained museum director Patricia Walsh while unveiling a 40-foot print of the Route 141 merge lane during rush hour. "These images capture the essence of human suffering in the tri-state area with unparalleled authenticity."
The collection, titled "Eternal Gridlock: A Delaware Love Story," includes rare photographs of Route 141 when not under construction (dated: never), intimate portraits of drivers experiencing various stages of rage, and a haunting series called "The Same Accident, Every Morning, Forever."
Featured works include:
• "I-95 North, 8:47 AM, Tuesday" (Red throughout)
• "Why Is It Always This Exit?" (A meditation on the 141 merge)
• "Google Maps Said 12 Minutes, It Took 47" (Self-explanatory)
• "The Orange Cones Have Been There Since I Was Born" (A Route 141 retrospective)
"Every single person in Delaware has taken at least one angry screenshot of their Waze or Google Maps showing red lines everywhere," noted curator Michael Rodriguez. "We're just the first institution brave enough to display them all in one place."
The museum acquired the collection for $1.2 million, which some critics called "excessive" until they learned it included 47 different angles of "that spot where 95 merges near the Delaware Memorial Bridge that's been orange since 2003."
Opening night attracted a crowd of dozens, though attendance was lower than expected after several patrons got stuck in traffic on the way to the museum. "The irony is not lost on us," Walsh admitted.
Interactive elements include a room where visitors can sit in a stationary car while watching a screen display "7 minutes to destination... 8 minutes... 12 minutes... 19 minutes" on repeat, creating what the museum calls "an immersive Delaware experience."
As of press time, the museum was considering expanding the exhibit to include angry NextDoor posts about traffic, assuming they can find wall space for approximately 8 million screenshots.