New York – September 19, 2026 -- A new film exploring the hidden nuclear past of a Manhattan artist community is now screening for free on the High Line, running daily from 10am to 10pm through November 16, 2026.
The film screens at the High Line's 14th Street passage on a continuous loop
"Prior Occupants," by artist Alison Nguyen, is the fifth High Line Originals commission and the second co-produced with the CHANEL Culture Fund. It plays at the High Line Channel, located in the park's covered passage at 14th Street.
Westbeth Artist Housing once served as Bell Labs' headquarters, tied to atomic bomb research
The film traces the obscure history of Westbeth Artist Housing, which before its 1970 conversion into artist housing was occupied by Western Electric and later Bell Labs. Researchers there worked on telecommunications and military technologies, including components later used in developing the atomic bomb. Nguyen was inspired in part by a severed fragment of the original High Line freight rail still embedded in Westbeth's facade.
Nguyen built the work from archival footage, performance, and resident interviews
The piece combines re-filmed archival documents, choreographed performance sequences, and layered audio interviews with residents and architects connected to both Westbeth and the High Line. Taylor Zakarin, associate curator of High Line Art, said the work "sheds vital light on the industrial and scientific legacies built into our surroundings." Nguyen said relationships formed with past and present Westbeth artists during filming opened up unexpected directions for the project.
The film will later travel to CHANEL's public art space in London
Following its High Line run, "Prior Occupants" will screen at The Window, CHANEL Culture Fund's site-specific public art program in Central London. High Line Originals launched in 2019 with Tourmaline's "Salacia," now part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection; a High Line Channel exhibition featuring works by Shahzia Sikander and the duo Hylozoic/Desires is planned for November 2026.