In December 1999, to celebrate the last month of the 20th century, Josh Harris – one of the Internet mogul of the 90’s – decided to organize a one month-long party. Donna Ferrato was part of it and took these pictures, never-before-seen.
Ferrato remembers it as “raw and unfiltered, marked by sleeplessness, lots of drinking and drugs, tension and fights. The Quiet people had the whole warehouse in which to act out the human social experiment. We slept in pods in the basement where it was dark and dangerous.”
Everything was free at the Quiet party: the finest alcohol and freshly prepared gourmet food.
“I had documented NYC’s craziest places in the late seventies; Studio 54, Plato’s Retreat, the Fun House, Chateau 19, and the Paradise,” says Ferrato, “so I was looking and ready for craziness.” “After it ended, I tried to sell it as a package to magazines but they weren’t interested in the story,” says Ferrato. “The media could not even comprehend that something like that had happened right under the nose of the police! So the pictures stayed untouched and unseen for the last 14 years. This is the first time I’ve ever shown the work.”
Here is her statment:
I wanted in.
I wanted to go in alone, not on assignment.
Because nothing is safe.
Because it appealed to my love of taking risks.
In December 1999 I split from my family
Because I was curious about what could happen in this crazy pod-land.
I wanted to be a part of it.
I wanted to be able to shoot people without asking permission.
I wanted to shoot people without knowing anything about who they are.
I didn’t care where they came from.
I was a stranger and this was a strange land and I had a camera.
Nobody knew me. I would do whatever I fucking wanted.
I’ve never shown these pictures.
Don’t ask me why.
It was Luvvy the Clown’s idea.
EXHIBITION
Quiet: We Live In Public
June 5 – 18, 2014
Amy Li Projects
166 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
USA
