25 Years Later & in The New Museum

So the other day I get an email from a friend of mine -- "Congratulations! The "Squat or Rot Documentary" will be shown at The New Museum on 8/22." I had no idea what he was talking about. All I know is that a couple of weeks ago, the said documentary, along with a video I put together from a show my friend curated in 1988 called AttackArt, was shown as part of MoRUS first annual film fest. Two and a half years ago, I wrote a post entitled The Year Was 1988 which explains more about the videos. Before its recent stint at MoRUS, that was the first time the videos had been shown in decades.

Anyway, living in the valley of Virginia, I had no idea what MoRUS was, and found out it was the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space located on Avenue C. Well, it seems that MoRUS is now having an exhibit at The New Museum on the Lower East Side Squatting Movement. At first I was annoyed. "Shouldn't I have been asked first???" I'm so out of the NYC loop that I didn't realize The New Museum was not only totally legit, but a pretty big deal.

It took a couple of emails back and forth, but my friend assured me this was a good thing, and nobody was making any money off of it. We have never made a cent off the documentary, and the one time there was admission charged back in 1988, the money went to the homeless. He said it would be really great if I could be there on the 22nd and talk about it in front of the audience. Nothing like giving me some notice. That's impossible, but if it does make the cut and becomes part of The New Museum's film archives, I will definitely check it out. Who would have thought something I helped create 25 years ago would one day wind up in a museum?

I wonder if that's what's going to happen with my writings? Will it take 25 years for my books to finally become best sellers? I figure 25 years from now I'll probably be dead so that's highly likely. After I die, the old chest filled with all my words, words, and more words will be discovered. Someone, probably my daughter, will publish them, alongside what I already have out there, and I will become famous. "She was so far ahead of her time!" Ha! Isn't that the way these things happen?

Here's the AttackArt video and the opening of Squat or Rot.