Tomorrow's Parties

The World, the world

Originally published in Aperture’s New York issue

At the moment, I’m near a building that in the 1980s used to be the home of an out-of-the-way club called The World, where, apparently, a lot of firsts happened, such as Björk performing in the United States. Of course, today everything is different here, but a few things are the same. For example, Björk has to watch for paparazzi and phone cameras now, but I’ve heard from many New Yorkers that until recently, she’d often go alone to out-of-the-way bars just to dance, hiding in plain sight.

When we read about the ’80s and its parties, there is always mention of an epidemic, the AIDS crisis, and how it set a tone, acting both as deterrent and impetus for going out. Partiers showed bravery, or maybe it was nihilism in the face of certain oblivion, the end of the world, for which this club I’m near was named. People liked to party like it was their last day on earth, like it was 1999, like their lives were in danger, since they were.