Maybe the Real “Secret Mall Apartment” All Along was Friendship
Most ridiculous ideas among friends start off as a hypothetical. With a “wouldn’t it be crazy if…” followed by anything they choose. In the case of Secret Mall Apartment, the result is exactly what the documentary’s title implies. Eight friends, living in the rapidly changing city of Providence, Rhode Island, decided in 2003 to see if they could live in plain sight within the walls of the Providence Place mall. While it starts as an inquisitive probe into the “how” of this endeavor, Secret Mall Apartment transforms into something far grander that speaks to the boundless nature of artistic expression and architecture’s ability to unite and divide.
In 1999, Providence Place officially opened to divided opinions from the locals. Those with more discretionary income were thrilled that this mall would be taking Providence into the new millennium, but those who couldn’t afford the stores saw it as a consumeristic blight on the artistic city. The development of the mall caused the closure of the Eagle Square neighborhood, known for its vibrant and eccentric artistic community. In a protest of sorts, Michael Townsend and seven others decided to live inside the mall. Their plan was inspired by a commercial for the mall that featured a woman who loved the mall so much she wished she could live in it.
Courtesy of Secret Mall Apartment
When the apartment was busted in 2007, only Michael Townsend was held accountable for what they’d all built. Only now, with the release of Secret Mall Apartment, have the names of the others come to light: Colin Bliss, James Mercer, Andrew Oesch, Greta Scheing, Emily Istach, Adriana Valdez-Young, and Jay Zehngebot. The documentary marks the first time all of them have spoken publicly about their involvement in this art project/social commentary. Even after all these years, each of them still keeps a key to the apartment door on their keyring. It’s a testament to the work they did to create a strange-yet-liveable home and to the friendship they share.
But what was the point of the secret apartment? Even as the documentary ends, there’s no real consensus about its purpose. Some say it was a protest against the mall for selling the unattainable American Dream. It may have been an anti-capitalist or anti-gentrification statement. The apartment could also be a sort of off-the-wall decision made by young artists who aren’t concerned with consequences. That’s the purpose of art. Its meaning is ever-changing and varies from person to person, based on their own perceptions. Secret Mall Apartment makes some connections between this project and how it speaks to the changing landscape of Providence and the inherent White privilege that exists in their ability to pull this off, but it’s more interested in Michael’s greater artistic endeavors beyond the apartment. When the film leaves the apartment and the mall, it loses some of the impact it could have had on the ways cities are built to make living harder for those with less income.
Courtesy of Secret Mall Apartment
Nevertheless, Secret Mall Apartment captures the early-aughts era of mall culture that no longer exists. Most malls today are struggling to survive, Providence Place included (an epilogue tells the audience the potential ironic fate of Providence Place). Secret Mall Apartment captures a flash-in-the-pan glimpse of American life at the turn of the century. The amount of footage available from the friends is incredible. They used small cameras that fit in Altoids containers and documented everything. Like the apartment it’s named after, Secret Mall Apartment is an epic feat of artistic creation, but one whose meaning remains murky to those who didn’t have a home in Providence Place.
support your local film critic!
~
support your local film critic! ~
Beyond the Cinerama Dome is run by one perpetually tired film critic
and her anxious emotional support chihuahua named Frankie.
Your kind donation means Frankie doesn’t need to get a job…yet.
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, & YouTube. Check out Movies with My Dad, a new podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.