Between Dreams and History explored the relationships between geographic location, memory, and identity. For his first site-specific project in the United States, artist Shimon Attie interviewed residents of the Lower East Side from diverse ethnic backgrounds and age groups and recorded their stories.

Using laser lights, he then projected the participants’ handwritten passages onto the facades of their buildings. The writings–in English, Spanish, Chinese, Yiddish, and Hebrew–formed a communal poem that reanimated the architecture of the neighborhood, as well as produced a testament to the history of the community.

Photograph by Shimon Attie

Shimon Attie

Between Dreams and History

Manhattan

1998