Boomtown 2006

September 25 - 27, 2009
Dumbo Arts Festival
Brooklyn

This piece is about the failing boom markets of art and real estate, imagining New York as if in the beginning stages of a post-gold rush ghost town. The "2006" in the title refers to the housing crash that happened in the fall of that year, bringing a decade and a half of bubble prices to a sharp close. We wanted to tie this in with the migration that people undertake during boom times to go "where the money is". The tent stands for foreclosures, tent cities, and the absurdity of abandoned real-estate. The loose coinage represents boom times and the conspicuous consumption that goes on during these times with little thought of what may happen in the future.