Deferred Demolition

“Would you like a pen?” I hear someone say behind me as I struggle to take notes with my dried-up old Bic. “We have plenty in the back.” NICOLE CHARLES, co-owner of Project 107gestures toward a dark corner of the room where shelves on wheels hold miscellaneous art supplies. The art gallery is located in a small modernist building that is slated for demolition. With a fresh pen in hand, I fire one last question: I ask where Project 107 is moving when the building is torn down. “We’re just packing things up and putting them in storage,” replies Charles.

The same building is the setting for, and the object of CRISTIAN ORDÓÑEZ’s new large-format photography exhibition, Displace, which opened on January 5. The exhibition marks the culmination of a year-long collaboration between Ordóñez and the gallery. “Nicole and [co-owner] Justin [Pape] found this space,” Ordóñez told me, “and I started visiting them and working with them on projects.” On his frequent visits to the building, he began noticing certain quirks—an aborted renovation project, a stained carpet, a desiccated…