Portable projectors have been a common instrument in protest art for some time now. In 2020, Artists for Workers and The Illuminator lit up Guggenheim New Yorks facade with messages of solidarity for museum personnel on strike. Trustees to Workers: Drop Dead, Open for Racism, and Open for Exploitation, were some of the phrases the artist-activist groups cast onto the rotundas exterior, to name but a few, not unlike Jenny Holzers provocation last May. This week in Manhattan, on December 10, protesters again leaned upon the medium to express collective outrage against a demolition and privatization plan for NYCHA Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea (FEC) Houses. The demonstration was organized by The Illuminator; Save Section 9 (SS9); residents of Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses; and More Art, a local arts nonprofit. It was directed toward Related Companies, Essence Development, and NYCHA, and also the architects behind the project: PAU, COOKFOX, and ILA. Politicians like Eric Bottcher, Mark Levine, Brad Hoylman, Eric Adams, Kathy Hochul, and others were also thrown shade for supporting the FEC plan.The art piece was meant to spread awareness about threats to public housing in New York today. (Avery J. Savage)Phrases like STOP THE DEMOLITION OF OUR HOMES, RELATED PLANS TO DEMOLISH 2,056 HOMES, and PRIVATIZED PUBLIC HOUSING=DISPLACED FAMILIES got straight to the point for passersby shuttling through Chelsea that evening. Some of the most poignant slides cast quotes from NYCHA residents: I WILL CHAIN MYSELF TO THE BUILDING BEFORE I LET THEM DEMOLISH MY HOME. While the slides were played, SS9 founder Ramona Ferreyra and Renee Keitt of Elliott-Chelsea Houses fielded questions on the sidewalk from curious observers about the protest, the FEC plan, and why people are against it.This event allowed us to tell the city that theyre wrong about Section 9, Ferreyra told AN. The quotes and statistics surprised many. But its time that New Yorkers stop avoiding the projects and instead start applying for a home where their rent is capped at 30 percent of their income, and 10 percent make more than 100k a year, while only 12 percent, like me, are on public assistance. We represent the best of the city and they should be jealous.The slides had personal testimonies from public housing residents. (Avery J. Savage)Madison Markham is More Arts community engagement coordinator. For the past year, More Arts community partner has been SS9, and the two organizations have held other protests and conducted teach-ins to spread awareness about imminent threats to public housing in New York today. One of the most creative stunts to date was when More Art invited the Yes Men, a famous culture jamming activist group, and the Good Liars to infiltrate a gala dressed up as Related executives. Markham affirmed for AN that the installation was a very collaborative effort between SS9, More Art, and The Illuminator. Over the last six or so months, Markham continued, we worked with tenants from SS9 at every step to shape what the day would look like and what message they wanted to share. And The Illuminator helped us actualize that intention and guided us on how to best get our message across to the public.One slide compared the development team with the Grinch. (Avery J. Savage)More Art and SS9 have also held film screenings of Katja Essons documentary, Razing Liberty Square, which was about how Related Companies demolished public housing in Miami, and replaced it with condos, much like whats underway in Manhattan today. Together, More Art and SS9 do much to combat misinformation, Markham told AN. I have always followed The Illuminators work and really enjoyed what they do, Markham said. We thought it would be great to work with them and somehow have SS9s message, and testimonies from tenants, projected somewhere in Chelsea. This came to fruition when Markham, Ferreyra, Keitt, and others set up a projector from a sidewalk on Manhattans west side, and illuminated the night sky with anti-demolition messages.(Avery J. Savage)Earlier that day, public housing residents and allies symbolically chained themselves to Fulton Houses with paper chains. This was inspired, Markham said, by an elderly woman who told More Art that she would chain herself to her radiator before she lets [Related] demolish her building. So with that, Markham continued, we started gathering more testimonies from tenants describing what they love about public housing, and what public housing has made possible for them and their family. These testimonies made up about 60 percent of what we projected onto the building.Public housing residents and allies symbolically chained themselves to Fulton Houses with paper chains. (Avery J. Savage)For Markham, the provocation was an important story to tell in Chelsea, but it has national implications. It was a local piece, Markham said, but we hope its a starting point for a larger conversation about Section 9, and why public housing needs to be reinvested in and refunded.