SECRET MALL APARTMENT

In 2003, eight Rhode Island artists created a secret apartment inside the busy Providence Place Mall and lived there for four years, filming everything along the way. They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even constructed a wall, smuggling in more than two tons of cinderblock.

Far more than just a wild prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for its inhabitants. It was a personal expression of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, a clubhouse in which large-scale charitable art projects were planned, and, finally, a 750 square-foot “F you” to The Man.

Featuring never-before-seen footage of the space and revealing the identities of all the participants for the first time, SECRET MALL APARTMENT is more than just a bonkers true story. Director Jeremy Workman, whose “Lily Topples The World” won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2021, delivers a poignant exploration of a group of artists who discovered their purpose within the most commercial and improbable places.