I HEART USA

Cycling a Heart Through a Divided Moment
By Stuart Acker Holt

On the day of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, I cycled a 60-mile heart-shaped route through New York City. I’d done this before—in Berlin and Amsterdam—originally as a romantic gesture. But by 2016, the heart had evolved into a method: part visual experiment, part social map, part street-level journalism.

I wanted to feel how a city breathes at a moment of national reckoning.

The route combined planning and chance. A stranger on the plane from Berlin suggested key neighbourhoods. That brief exchange shaped the heart. On the ride, I followed instinct—speaking with people who stood out. Some were quiet. Some defiant. Some just wanted to be heard. I didn’t seek balance, only honesty.

At first, the mood was bright. New Yorkers buzzing with anticipation. But after the result dropped, the light changed. A drizzle settled. People’s voices hardened. One man longed for the Reagan years. Another walked off mid-sentence. It was like watching something fracture in real time.

Gijs Wilbers shot the film. My cousin Ruth managed the ground logistics. A Kickstarter campaign helped us finish it. Editing was tough—the voiceover came last. We laid in real-time texts from the election count, trying to preserve that disorienting blur between public spectacle and private reaction.

Looking back, I HEART USA isn’t really about Trump. It’s about the space just before and after—a window into what people reveal when you give them time, attention, and a reason to speak. The heart was never about love, really. It was about crossing lines that rarely meet.

Today, we swipe, scroll, and filter our way through life. Talking to strangers is no longer ordinary—it’s an act of resistance.
That’s what this film captured. And maybe, what we’ve forgotten how to do.