5. Each One, Every One, Equal All in Times Square

installation by Nick Cave in the Times Square subway
Each One, Every One, Equal All. Photo by MTA / Trent Reeves.

In September 2021, Nick Cave’s Every One, a permanent 360-f00t mosaic and accompanying video, opened to the public on the North and East walls of the new 42nd Street connector in the Times Square subway stop. This May, MTA Arts & Design unveiled two accompanying permanent artworks entitled Each One and Equal All near the rebuilt 42nd Street shuttle—creating a total of nearly 4,600 square feet of mosaic, making it both Cave’s largest public artwork and the largest mosaic project in the New York City Transit system.

Located inside the new station entrance at One Times Square, Each One measures 14.5 feet tall and features colorful Soundsuits arranged in various states of vertical movement and suspension. The installation’s movement and forms were inspired by the New Year’s Eve ball drop at One Times Square while its muted lines connect the piece to both the station’s subterranean level and the constant hustle and bustle of the plaza overhead. Each figure in the mosaic is depicted with a polka-dot pattern meant to symbolize the various points of memory along an individual’s journey. Equal One, located near the 42nd Street shuttle platform, includes a dozen life-sized Soundsuits capturing many of Cave’s most notable pieces from the last 20 years. The most recent one features a body of work created in response to the murder of George Floyd with the piece utilizing mixed media materials such as vintage textile, sequined appliqués, and metal.