AN AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY THE BRONX
This project deals with housing changes occurring in the Bronx and its transformation which in some cases has been revitalizing, but at the same time has been the main ingredient of displacement and further stratification. The video documents my interventions using masks in public spaces throughout the borough during the mortgage crisis, worldwide food riots and the rising cost of living in NYC. I created masks out of newspaper headlines on location where I would sit for about 3 hours in a span of 8 weeks. I tried to sell one pound bags of rice, beans, and flour for $1000, $3000, and $5000 to cover a mortgage bailout. My interventions were unannounced and fleeting. Passersby were encouraged to come up to me. Many told me about their current living and housing situations as they responded to the items being sold.
The work has been made possible in part, by the Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art, supported by the Jerome Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Video about this project can be seen here:
Video
Reviews:
Hyperallergic
CriticalObjects