Site Specific Installation, Lower East Side of Manhattan

New York has historically been home to ethnically diverse immigrants, inspiring feelings and experiences related to migration, temporality, transformation, assimilation, or conflict. DRAFTspace hosted an exhibition series to provoke attention and discussion about this sense of rootlessness. The theme of rootlessness is connected to the unique space setup and location. The exhibit was not held in a permanent gallery space. Instead, it temporarily occupied a street-level vacant storefront. The Lower East Side where this event took place has long been an immigrant neighborhood and has seen a series of immigrant communities pass through it. The area has undergone gentrification, starting in the mid-2000s and has since become home to upscale boutiques and numerous contemporary art galleries. Using my own immigrant experience of feeling rootless in America as an impetus, this installation explored the mergence and temporality of language, sound, and materiality.