How to Live Inside a Mall for 4 Years

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In 2003, a group of young, displaced artists in Providence, Rhode Island, impulsively decided to live at a new mall that had sprung up in their neighborhood as a sort of youthful prank and provocation. The idea originated from a radio ad where a mother expressed her wish to reside at the Providence Place shopping center. Taking this suggestion literally, these artists turned it into reality. They discovered an unused, 750-square-foot space hidden in the upper floors of the mall, which they transformed into a makeshift apartment over time. They secretly set up camp, adding furniture, lights, and even constructed walls and doors. The artists managed to stay hidden for four years before they were discovered in 2007. Jeremy Workman’s documentary, “Secret Mall Apartment,” sheds light on this intriguing tale through the artists’ own narration. Interestingly, many of these artists have remained unidentified until now.

1999 saw the birth of Providence Place, an architectural behemoth sprawling across a vast, underutilized swath of land bordering one of the city’s working-class communities. As I learned from conversations with locals, this mammoth shopping center, teeming with high-end retailers, wasn’t intended for the residents who lived nearby.

Post its construction, there was a concerted effort by politicians and developers to refine and revitalize the adjacent, economically disadvantaged neighborhood of Olneyville, home to Fort Thunder, an artists’ colony nestled within a forgotten warehouse. For years, this community had provided a sanctuary for Providence’s impoverished artistic class, offering them living and working spaces adorned with art and music amid the remnants of the city’s industrial past, as well as echoes of its post-war decline when businesses departed, leaving Providence fragmented by highways that turned it into a pit stop for travelers bound for bigger cities and more affluent suburbs.

In this particular region, resided Michael Townsend, who essentially led the group of artists responsible for designing the hidden apartment within the mall. For him and his associates, such as Adriana Valdez-Young, his spouse at the time, transforming an unused space in Providence Place into a home was a subtle means of retaliation against those who had forced them out. Additionally, there was a unique symbolism in the act of purchasing high-end household items from the mall to construct an expensive (and undeniably illegal) living space within its walls.

The film by this craftsman unequivocally demonstrates that these individuals were not idlers. Townsend was an innovative artist who constructed eye-catching public exhibits. Notably, he excelled in “tape art” – transient yet aesthetically pleasing murals made with painter’s tape. He routinely imparted this skill to children at a local hospital and utilized it during emergencies such as the Oklahoma City bombing site and later for commemorating the anniversary of 9/11. I recall seeing some of Townsend’s work during that period; he and his team of artists created life-size tape outlines of 9/11 victims at various locations in lower Manhattan, connecting them on a map would have depicted three huge hearts covering the lower half of the island.

In the captivating film titled “Secret Mall Apartment“, it’s not just the intriguing concepts that make it a success as a movie, but also the clever way it has been assembled. Interestingly, some of the footage was captured by the artists themselves using a compact Pentax Optio S4i camera, which could easily fit into an Altoids tin and produced images with a fuzzy texture and poor sound quality. They even filmed scenes of moving furniture and evading security, as well as one instance where they were caught red-handed during a cinder-block smuggle. Workman skillfully edits this raw footage to create a suspenseful narrative, which he then alternates with contemporary interviews. He films his subjects today in a lively manner, often in bright, cozy environments – some interviewees even have their pets present – emphasizing the concept of home as an extension of one’s identity and self-expression in the world. The director also delves deeper into Townsend’s story, linking the transient nature of the artist’s work with the precariousness of the secret mall apartment.

While watching “Secret Mall Apartment”, I was occasionally reminded of James Marsh’s “Man on Wire” (2008), which portrays Philippe Petit’s daring tightrope walk between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Some people believe that Petit’s walk made the Twin Towers feel more human, transforming a cold, imposing architectural structure into a familiar part of New York City. In a similar vein, the secret mall apartment served as a home for young artists within the seemingly indifferent concrete structure that took away their community. It also reflects on the rise and fall of cities and suburbs, and our dreams of prosperity that often come in cycles. Much like many American malls, including Providence Place where I spent much of my youth, this mall has experienced its share of hard times as online retailers such as Amazon continue to impact traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. Interestingly, Townsend, who was banned from the mall for life, is now being allowed back in – this is because “Secret Mall Apartment” is premiering at the Showcase Providence Place Cinemas this weekend, featuring Q&A sessions. It seems that both the mall and its cinemas could benefit from this event.

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2025-03-21 19:54