The Opening
99 Red Ballons for World Love in Times Square
A Symbolic Gesture: Love Takes Flight in Manhattan
It turned out that the project took place on May 1st, 2003. We held our grand opening on Times Square featuring 99 red Balloons, love postcards, and a massive billboard. The 99 balloons were handed out to passersby with the request to write a love message before releasing them into the Manhattan sky. While this succeeded with a small group, most people were too preoccupied to participate, as depicted in the video.
In a symbolic gesture, this display of love in Times Square was also intended to be placed into the wounded heart of the city, offering some healing power after the events of 9/11.
Coincidentally, on the same day, George W. Bush declared «mission accomplished» aboard a large destroyer somewhere in the ocean. What an ironic coincidence! While I had to postpone my mission to this date, he had already achieved his.
The only acknowledgment we received that day was from a reporter at swissinfo.org, who published a story online. Later, we secured a full-page feature in the Scarlsdays News because Larry was teaching in that city. However, The New York Times did not deem it significant enough to cover, and even the local newspaper in my hometown of Lucerne didn’t report on it until six months later. The timing just wasn’t right.
Nevertheless, for me, it was still a success. I made it happen, overcame personal fears, and turned parts of my idea into reality, which made me proud. While it didn’t reach the world as expected, it still reached many people. And if not a message of peace was received, it certainly demonstrated that one person, with the help of friends, can challenge themselves and achieve considerable progress toward their goal of spreading love and peace.
The images below were mostly captured by Adrian Müller.
