Cid Roberts

All This Change Is Making Me Wet Cid Roberts

On May 31, 2020 while the world was locked down by the Covid-19 pandemic, protesters across the United States took to the streets. The recent death of George Floyd, a black man, while white police officers restrained and allegedly suffocated him, silencing his final plea "I can't breathe, " ignited the nation, and demonstrators in New York City, and across the country, united to demand one message be heard. Black Lives Matter. While initial demonstrations of massive crowds across the city were peaceful, late that night some protesters clashed with police setting off riots and looting in SoHo, the iconic neighborhood and arts district, and home to premiere luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vouitton. After a night of chaos and destruction business owners and tenants boarded up storefronts and windows as they braced for another day and night of protests that ultimately led to a week of strictly enforced city wide curfew and lockdown. The messages, artwork, statements and questions that were lost when the barriers and barricades were finally removed and the experience of roaming the once bustling and thriving streets of SoHo turned pre-apocalyptic sterile war zone of that tense and uncertain week in early summer 2020, rest in the images of All This Change Is Making Me Wet, and they leave us to re-visit and re-examine what has past, where we've come, and where we go from here.