Switch Building Births Site/109 Pop-Up Space

The Switch Building at 109 Norfolk Street was a hotly-anticipated development back in the heady gold rush days of the mid-aughts. Real estate circles were foaming at the mouth for a project that, quite frankly, took forever-and-a-day to complete and all but destroyed the beloved Tonic in the process. Its Warholian fifteen minutes of fame was further accentuated by rumors of a Jessica Alba apartment walk-through back in June 2007. Otherwise, mum.

Also, in the years following its christening, nothing really became of the ground level retail. It was always an empty box of a space with security gates perpetually drawn.

But those days are now over. Switch finally fetched a first-floor commercial tenant. Much like its northern neighbor Grand Opening or Openhouse Gallery in Little Italy, 109 Norfolk Street has been transformed into a permanent pop-up space called Site/109.

The inaugural exhibition at Site/109 is “Sex, DUIs, and Videotape,” a nod to the acclaimed 1989 cult film Sex Lies and Videotape. According to recently released press materials, the show is “an examination of the changing definition of beauty and shame in today’s pixel-saturated society.” The show features works by Daniele Buetti, Clifton Childree, Brian McKee, Martin Murphy, Emilio Chapela Perez, Cameron Platter, Miha Štrukelj, Sara Rahbar and Simon Vega.

“Sex DUIs, and Videotape” begins tonight.