Accidental Community
On Sunday, July the 21st, 2024 a semi truck caught fire, causing a major road closure along the highway from Merritt to Hope, delaying journeys for nearly 3 hours.
An accident along a fast-paced highway evolved into a snapshot of a micro society. Faceless automobiles morphed into families and characters.
A swathe of tarmac cutting through the landscape, a hostile environment, not intended to be travelled slowly or stopped upon, was suddenly inhabited.
Chairs were pulled out and tables set. Ownership was taken of the highway. Those who brought a bike went on reconnaissance missions, sharing information with strangers on the way back. Fleeting friendships were formed.
Cars offer us a safe space to decompress and think, many people look forward to long drives by themselves. However radio, air-con and lumbar support distance us from the environment we are travelling through, and other humans appear to us as brand names.
This forced moment of pause felt like a glimpse into an alternate way of being, where people talked to each other with no prejudice and had a collective sense of empathy.
