The place do damaged hearts go on Valentine’s Day? Or any day for that matter? Whereas romantics throughout the town had been presumably holding palms over small bistro tables at overpriced eating places or seated inside theaters of their greatest outfits, greater than 150 folks took refuge at an AllInOne Collective warehouse close to Inexperienced-Wooden Cemetery, in Brooklyn, communing over their shared grief as a substitute of spending the night time alone at dwelling.

Jack Carrick wakened early Valentine’s Day morning for a cross-country flight from Seattle to New York, his soon-to-be new dwelling.

He landed at about 9 a.m. on Tuesday and settled into his sublet in Brooklyn. After dinner that night, Mr. Carrick, 29, headed to his first outing as one of many metropolis’s latest residents: an artwork set up completely impressed by damaged hearts.

Posts in regards to the occasion on Instagram caught his consideration as a result of he was nonetheless coping with the tip of a three-and-a-half-year relationship.

“It led to August, however I’m undoubtedly nonetheless processing,” a jet-lagged Mr. Carrick stated. “It felt like it could be attention-grabbing to be round artists and different folks and artwork that represents how I’m feeling.”

Mr. Carrick was not the one one.

“My ex and I broke issues off the day after Valentine’s Day like a yr in the past,” stated Mars Grace, 22, whose good friend inspired her to go to the occasion to take her thoughts off the vacation this yr. (Ms. Grace had lately posted herself crying in an Instagram story.) “She was like: ‘It’s best to simply come out. Everybody’s going to be heartbroken and it’s going to be cathartic.’”

The one-night-only occasion, “Why Is Everybody Breaking Up Proper Now?,” was the brainchild of the artist Blair Simmons, who only a few weeks earlier had herself been damaged up with by her associate of seven years. After her group of pals swarmed in to assist her, she realized that she wasn’t the one particular person in her social circle reeling from a current breakup.

“It actually feels so good to be round people who find themselves going by way of it, and I really feel actually fortunate that I’ve my squad,” she stated in a telephone interview earlier than the present. “And my instincts are to convey extra folks collectively so that folks don’t really feel alone.”

After prematurely becoming a member of the relationship app Hinge and instantly regretting it, Ms. Simmons, 29, determined to repurpose her profile as an open name for artwork and objects from customers who had skilled breakups, together with platonic ones, within the final 18 months. In simply a few days, she acquired tons of of messages and submissions on the app and elsewhere on-line.

Ms. Simmons and her fellow curators Maya Pollack, Molly Ritmiller and Silvia Beatriz Abisaab chosen 29 artists to function within the present. One of many items, a purple checkered quilt peppered with quick ideas titled “The place I lay,” was created by the artist Natalya Kornblum-Laudi partly from a letter that she had written in response to a breakup. The colour of the textual content matched the colour of the material, making it onerous to learn besides from inches away.

“The letter is so susceptible, so I used each device in my toolbox to masks the vulnerability,” Ms. Kornblum-Laudi, 26, stated. “It’s about a number of folks, a number of exes, a number of experiences. My dad’s in there.”

Sean Turner, a 19-year-old artist, submitted a collection of self-portraits he had taken on movie, titled “Our hearts might weep however our our bodies sing,” which was made after a “friendship breakup” he skilled a yr in the past.

“I feel it’s actually worse than something I’ve ever been by way of,” Mr. Turner stated, including that Tuesday’s present had been his first time being featured in an exhibition. “We had an argument and we couldn’t resolve it.”

Ms. Simmons determined to take a extra literal strategy along with her personal set up, “Please Take My Baggage,” a roughly seven-foot-tall iridescent tower of tons of of small luggage and bins crammed with issues from the condominium she had beforehand shared along with her ex. Among the objects had been former presents — which clearly needed to go — however others had been extra benign fragments, issues that merely reminded her of their relationship. As an alternative of throwing these miniature time capsules out, she invited company to take a bag dwelling on the finish of the night time.

“All people will get somewhat piece of my damaged relationship to go,” she defined.

Tickets for the group present had been $15. (Ms. Simmons stated the proceeds had gone on to the collaborating artists and curators.) After they weren’t admiring the installations or laughing over wine, pink marshmallow cereal treats and ceviche, company had been stealing early peeks inside Ms. Simmons’s “baggage,” making an attempt to find out which they might go dwelling with.

Among the many presents claimed on Tuesday had been an Ostrichpillow, a glittery cowboy hat, tote luggage, framed artwork prints, dinnerware, caffeine dietary supplements, a can of pinto beans, a small bottle of adhesive remover, prompt ramen and a tube of chips. Phrase traveled within the room that somebody had picked a bag with glasses inside that seemed to be from Fendi.

One girl pulled out a white cereal bowl with a blue fish on it earlier than tucking it again contained in the bag. Later within the night time, a person would discover the identical bowl and instantly tuck it below his arm with modest pleasure.

Ms. Simmons stated that she was not solely feeling supported throughout this powerful time, however that she was proud that she may assist others on what generally is a tough day for the singles.

“Lots of people have stated that it’s good to have the ability to be round one another in a second that may very well be onerous and as a substitute we made it somewhat enjoyable, somewhat darkish, somewhat foolish,” she stated on the present. “This has been a fairly transformative night time for me.”

About 20 minutes earlier than issues wrapped up, because the sounds of Lauryn Hill’s “Ex Issue” boomed from the audio system, the final handful of company sifted by way of the remaining bits of the pile, whereas others departed with smiles into the quiet Brooklyn road.

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