A Psychic Vacuum
Mike Nelson
September 8 – October 28, 2007
The Old Essex Street Market
117 Delancey @ Essex Street, Southeast Corner
Photo: Charlie Samuels
Mike Nelson transformed the disused interior of the Essex Street Market in NYC’s Lower East Side, taking audiences on an unexpected journey through reconstructed rooms, passageways, and meticulously assembled environments of his installation titled A Psychic Vacuum. Inspired by the building’s history, the surrounding neighborhood, literary and cultural references, and the current social climate in the United States, the project comes to life via materials gleaned from local salvage yards and debris from the market’s heyday. This site-specific project, the London-based artist’s first major installation in the U.S., offered audiences an opportunity to explore a forgotten building, once a bustling part of the Lower East Side, which has been inaccessible to the public for the past thirteen years.