public / private

Created by Brandon Powers
Sound Design by Sadah Espii Proctor
Presented by NEW INC & Ace Hotel Brooklyn

public / private steers the choreography of movement through space. With nothing but a set of headphones and each other, guests will navigate Ace Hotel Brooklyn in small groups with audio as their guide. A clandestine hotel room encounter. A delicate discovery. And a reimagination of the relationships and physical environment that have been formed await within.

Emerging from months in our homes, distanced from each other, we now have to renegotiate and reimagine how we gather as bodies in physical space. Further, the dichotomy of public vs private has grown starker, shaping how we hold and move our bodies. We’ve gone from conforming to certain postures in private space to re-entering public space with these new physical memories. A hotel offers a nuanced place to investigate these shifts as it is a convergence of the public and private. 

In groups of 8 every 30 minutes, guests explore private and public space at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn. First, they explore public, by donning headphones, immersing them in an audio journey through the Garden and Lobby that choreographs their movement through the space. Then, the group splits, and each half of the group will discover a performer they are invited to follow up to a hotel room for an intimate theatrical scene, illuminating how we act in private. Lastly, guest return to the Lobby Bar where they receive prompts to discuss with guests from the other room, unpacking the experience together.