108 Leonard Street

This intervention takes place prior to 9/11 at a building in New York City that houses many government agencies in downtown Manhattan. This is the same location where The Clocktower Gallery / MoMA operates. Prior to 9/11, access to the Gallery was fairly relaxed, with the exception of the security guards sitting 24/7 at the lobby, ready to collect information on each visitor in an old-fashioned composition book. These were analog times! María Alós and Nicolás Dumit Estévez situate themselves right outside The Clocktower Gallery / MoMA. They request from those attending an opening to register with them before proceeding to see the show. María and Nicolás, in their role as guards, collect general information about each attendee thus foretelling, without knowing it, the spread of top-down surveillance that was to come after attacks, but also how much of ourselves we are asked to reveal before we can enter some spaces.

Presented at The Clocktower Gallery / MoMA

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