Between Dreams and History
Shimon Attie
October 22 - November 14, 1998
Ludlow and Rivington streets
Photo © 1998 Shimon Attie
Between Dreams and History explored the relationships between geographic location, memory, and identity. In his first site-specific project in the United States, Shimon Attie interviewed residents of the Lower East Side from diverse ethnic backgrounds and age groups, recorded their stories, and then used laser lights to project these handwritten passages on the walls of their buildings. The writings–in English, Spanish, Chinese, Yiddish, and Hebrew–formed a communal poem which reanimated the architecture of the neighborhood and produced a testament to the history of the residents’ communities, however fleeting.