Secret Mall Apartment

Roman Mars brought me here. Featured on the 99% Invisible podcast, this story sounded wonderful and this documentary does not disappoint. Providence, Rhode Island has a mall, Providence Place Mall. It's 2003, the year that four friends decide to go live at said mall. Not shopping. Not hanging out, although they do both, but... live, for a week. Really just because why not. Americans love their malls, although this one has disgruntled some as its creation ironically replaced homes, rerouting rail tracks and rivers. Severed and relocated communities and priced many out of it altogether. We meet Andrea Valdez-Young, Michael Townsend, Andrew Oesch and Jay Zehngebot who are basically playing a game with very little plan other than to document it all, to see how long they can go before the mall security catches them out. There's one obvious flaw, where to sleep. Here we get to the origins of the mall apartment, or the 'nowhere space' as it begins. During construction, Michael had noticed an area that seemed to have no purpose. A void, surplus, abandoned, left-over... forgotten. Until the group attempt to make it a home. They're DIY rascals. Artists. Scavenging, scheming and improvising. It's all delightfully inventive, mischievous, but there's a moral undercurrent. The space is being wasted, they're duty bound to fulfil its potential. The mall apartment is not their first project. Providence is a place that's seen better days. Its industry has collapsed, the vacant buildings are repurposed as squats and artist spaces, for bands, for expression, for people and that's what's at the heart of this. People vs soulless developers. Before long, the group has expanded and the initial rush has passed. It's no longer a game. They've settled in, eating pizza, playing video games, planning public art installations. Now eight strong with Colin, James, Greta and Emily. It's decided that for safety, this is now their secret. No outsiders. The theme music that's used by another podcast, The Rest is Politics throws me off momentarily, but this is really engaging stuff. They work hard and are the epitome of positivity. It's not just the apartment, that's the focus of course, but this digs into the people and their philosophy. Mainly Michael, he's the teacher, the father figure, the spark and there is a lot of spark! There's a lot going on here and it's all beautiful. It's not just a great story, it's a great documentary in its own right, one that continues to push the message at its core of art and life being one and the same.

Granted, I am an artist. I just thought it was a beautiful and inspiring story. Love the exploration of who Michael is as an artist. Love that he doesn't prioritize the almighty dollar. Live that he spreads goodwill and creativity everywhere he goes. He was compelled to create the apartment..just for the sake of it. No, it wasn't out of necessity, nor some kind of hooligan rebellion, nor a money making scheme. He reminds us, with all of his projects that beauty is is own excuse for being.

I'm a life long RI resident, so it was fun to see the familiar newsroom faces, Umberto from AS220, some RI landmarks, and to get some Providence history that I wasn't aware of. Definitely a must see for Rhode Islanders.

Saw this months ago, and was fortunate enough to see it with my son in the actual mall where the tale took place. We missed the "featured" showing with people from the movie in attendance by a couple of days, but did get to see their handiwork in blue tape silhouettes throughout the mall.

That said, I think this film is worth seeking out, and I hope to rewatch with my wife and other son one of these days. It does capture a lot of what art can do (helping in hospitals, healing in wrecked cities, encouraging youth to take chances, finding a higher path above the capitalist bottom line, inspiring blistering rock music - hello Lightning Bolt!!).

But it also shows how an artists life is a struggle, financially and anti-fascistically. Also how an artist with an overriding calling, and be more wed to that than their spouse.

Michael Townsend is certainly at the center of the film, and his charisma and confidence help get past the security guards positioned strategically around your heart.

I do also like the importance of documenting what you do, since you never know... See also Sun Ra new albums still coming out? Granted I could see how the little Secret might have been more special to a select few and had it never been exposed, ultimately I think it is good that it got out.

Also it may help to play air hockey with someone you love after watching the movie. It did for me...

Wow! What an incredible Film. I was a Big fan of the Banksie films but I think this one beats them for me. I remember stumbling upon this story years ago on some forgettable you tube channel and even then I was bowled over and intrigued by the basic story so when I saw the poster I instantly new what this film was going to be about and I was right but what I didn't account for was a dive into the life and art of my new hero and favourite American artist, Michael Townsend, Andrew Wyeth get out of the cab.

At a time when a housing crisis is tearing my country Australia apart and young people have little to no hope of buying their own homes without a kick back from mum and dad, finding themselves at the mercy of landlords for the most part motivated by financial yield, endlessly pushed from place to place, powerless to achieve a secure existence this movie is both incredibly precedent and poignant.

Michael Townsend is the central force at the heart of these events and what a force he is creating art and installations that are profoundly moving, predictive and are sometimes weird and disturbing for reasons are difficult to tease out. They dwell in the sub conscious not fully available to the waking world. The body tunnel was incredible.

I've worked in film and theatre for decades so I've applied my share of gaffer tape for a wide variety of courses but I had never heard of TAPE ART outside of Stockhausen and the like. The hospital footage reduced me to tears.

The way Michael operates with endless curiosity exploring the nooks and crannies of his world and prescribing new meaning to them is a life changing process to behold. Seeing all the footage of this process in action over many years was amazing.

I fell off my chair laughing at the mall cops on the sofa and it set my imagination in motion wondering about the possibilities of which way things were going to play out and what the mall cops might decide to or not to do. Maybe they will all become friends?

The art and the concepts within this production are so mind blowing they make any quibbles I have over the production values and movie making techniques employed in this film redundant. The sound track is cute and the Cherry on top for me was making a connection and learning where the band Lightning Bolt came from and the context of their creation. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea but it should be. Highly recommend this film.

I went in expecting a deep look at the people who secretly lived in the hidden mall apartment, but instead the focus is mostly on the artists themselves, their projects, and loud, jarring music they made while squatting elsewhere.

Much of the film feels like watching them squat in various public spaces rather than exploring the apartment's story. I also wished we learned what they actually did for work or if avoiding real responsibility was the point. Overall, their art and lifestyle overshadow the far more interesting story of the mall apartment.