In the modern age, many folks feel the absence of a “third place.” Somewhere that is not your home, is not your workplace, but rather a third space, somewhere you can hang out, relax, and socialize. For a lot of people, malls were that now elusive third place, somewhere to gather, to eat food, and of course, to shop. For a group of friends in 2003 however, the Providence Place Mall was not a third place, it was home. In Jeremy Workman’s documentary SECRET MALL APARTMENT, we follow eight young artists, helmed by Michael Townsend, as they create a furnished apartment hidden in the walls of Rhode Island’s largest mall. Luckily for us, this project was so thoroughly documented by those working on it, there’s a lot of first-hand accounts and footage to lead us through the story. It’s like the early days of vlogging. The audience right off the bat is met with so many questions of how and why that it implores you to lean in, you want to learn more. The strength of SECRET MALL APARTMENT is that it focuses on an interesting group of people and allows them to tell their story.
Now, what exactly is the secret mall apartment? Is it a statement? A project? A domicile? And the answer is kind of yes to all of the above. In some ways it’s art that defies description which is the core of what so many artists wish to achieve. Inspired by the clear gentrification going on in their surrounding neighborhoods, Townsend and friends felt a responsibility to do something with what they viewed as an underutilized space. People were being displaced from their homes in order for more businesses to be built. Notably, there wasn’t even an entrance to the Providence Place Mall on the half of it facing a less desirable neighborhood. People were being excluded from their own community, and the artists of SECRET MALL APARTMENT wanted to take some of that back. To take control of something when so much is being taken from you. Something that is entirely yours.
And they do just that. Throughout SECRET MALL APARTMENT, the audience is brought along for the journey of sneaking large furniture pieces into this hidden area of the mall. We watch as the artists rig up electricity, obtain a PO box, doing almost everything and anything to make this a livable space. It isn’t lost on the viewer how the cycle of privilege and exclusivity ends up repeating itself. This group was so upset about exclusivity that they ended up creating something completely exclusive, going so far as to haul massive quantities of cinderblocks into the secret apartment to create a wall, along with a locking door. It’s a horseshoe effect of sorts, one that it’s reasonable to assume the group featured in SECRET MALL APARTMENT is at least somewhat aware of. In speaking with the artists in the present day, there is brief mention of their white privilege, and acknowledgement that this entire situation would have gone very differently if they didn’t look the way they do. For them, acting like they belong somewhere is almost always enough for people to believe them, evidenced by the way they are able to smooth talk mall security guards and evade discovery.
Beyond the intrigue and the logistics of putting the space together, SECRET MALL APARTMENT transforms to become a love letter to Michael and the artist’s journey overall. Those close to him speak incredibly highly of him as they discuss his range of work which include interactive art pieces at a children’s hospital as well as a tribute to those who lost their lives during the September 11th attacks. It helps the audience to know him, and to get in the mind of someone who would feel called to embark on a project like this. The “why,” of this project can be difficult to understand. Why someone would want to make this, what reward they would get out of it, and what it all means. While SECRET MALL APARTMENT does not answer all these questions, and likely never could, understanding Michael as a person and as an artist helps the audience get just a bit closer.
Above all else, the lasting message SECRET MALL APARTMENT emphasizes is the temporary nature of art. In the literal sense through examples of Michael’s tape art, created and destroyed within 24 hours. Less tangibly though, it deals with the idea that once you make something and put it out into the world, it’s no longer just yours. Now, it is open for interpretation and you can’t control the meaning that may get assigned to it. While they were sneaking around, the secret mall apartment was entirely theirs, but now that the information is out there, it’s everyone’s. At times self-important, but largely a tribute to the full experience of creation, SECRET MALL APARTMENT is sure to hit a nerve with many artists out there.
Tags: Film Festivals, Jeremy Workman, Michael Townsend, Secret Mall Apartment, SXSW, SXSW 2024
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