One of the main protagonists of Relax Be Cruel is Pier 34—an abandoned industrial hangar formerly located on Manhattan’s West Side. Filmed in 1983, partially lost, and then re-edited by Scemama in 2023, the film unfolds through the perspective of a punk squatter as she witnesses the many lives centered around the warehouse. The filmmaker first encountered the piers in the early 1980s, when they were used for anonymous and ephemeral artmaking and queer cruising. The film documents performative happenings and site-specific interventions in the months before the city demolished Pier 34. Murals by Scemama’s friend, artist David Wojnarowicz, appear in the film.
Gallery label from 2024