Episode 506 - Secret Mall Apartment - Michael Townsend

Michael Townsend draws on everything. For over twenty years he has been spear-heading collaborative drawings using low-adhesive tapes that can be stuck on facades, sidewalks, walls, whatever without permanent repercussions. The drawings started as nightly guerrilla raids on the surfaces of Providence, Rhode Island and as interest in these ephemeral works grew he has been invited to perform over 500 of his Tape Art creations on walls around the world. His work with the Tape Art medium has optimized his efforts as a community artist and he has worked collaboratively with tens of thousands students both young and old. The uniquely accessible nature of his teaching practice have made this participatory work a good fit for prisons, hospitals, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes and communities struggling to have their voices heard. When he is not pressing tape onto walls, Townsend might be found in front of a computer editing footage from his films, choreographing short dance pieces, working on a subterranean sculpture pieces or working relentlessly on one of his epic secret projects. Townsend and his collaborators became an international curiosity when it was discovered that they were building a fully-functioning apartment space inside the Providence Place Mall that they had occupied, undiscovered, for four years. The project was ended abruptly before the wood floors were installed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices