Eight Friends Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall and Hid There Undetected for Years; A New SXSW Documentary Explains How and Why
variety.comBrent Lang Executive Editor When the Providence Place Mall was constructed in the late ’90s, it was touted by Rhode Island leaders as a sign of urban renewal for its struggling capital city.
For eight artists, it became something else — home. These friends constructed a makeshift apartment — complete with a sofa, a TV and video game system, a microwave and a cinderblock wall — in a hidden alcove of the shopping complex’s garage.
To run the appliances, they tapped into the mall’s electricity. Amazingly, this hangout spot (where some of the friends even spent several shivery nights), went undiscovered for four years.
Their audacious gambit was launched in response to the gentrification taking place around them, a humorous protest against the capitalist forces that threatened to push the city’s artistic community to its outer edges.
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