Martin Wong Traffic Signs for Hearing Impaired

Traffic Signs for Hearing Impaired is a multisite artwork resulting from Martin Wong’s six-month residency at the New York City Department of Transportation’s sign shop. Wong (1946–1999, b. Portland, OR) has created artworks that—while identical in color and shape to standard city traffic signs—utilize the manual alphabet of the deaf to convey their message. In this series of artworks, illustrated hands depicting each signed letter spell out “ONE WAY,” “STOP,” and “SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.”