Notes From the Field

In the early morning hours of Friday, September 22, plant-like humanoid creatures appeared in the vicinity of Penn Station, drawing attention to proposed demolitions haunting the neighborhood. The Keepers, part of a performance art intervention created by Ed Woodham, have shown up in various gentrifying locations over the past decade. The Keepers appear when life is out of balance with nature. Their presence is a response to the gentrification and rapid mass development of urban areas where the importance of mixed-use districts, the area’s history, and the natural environment has been ignored.