Have you ever been so obsessed with something you thought you could start a movement or a museum about that thing? If you were alive in the 90's, you may be intrigued by an unusual tribute in Williamsburg to one of the biggest media spectacles in sports history. NY1’s Stephanie Simon has the story.
They might be skating on thin ice with their landlord, but roommates Viviana Olen and Matt Harkins have transformed their tiny Williamsburg apartment into a mini museum about the 1994 Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan ice-skating scandal.
"It's like these two women who were ice-skaters and amazing athletes and just the story of watching it unfold – it's so fascinating," said Viviana Olen, co-founder of "1994 Nancy Kerrigan Tonya Harding Museum"
The spectacle is retold in the ESPN 30 for 30 Documentary "The Price of Gold." But as quick recap, Nancy Kerrigan was hit in the knee with a baton before the ‘94 Olympics. Fellow skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband and body guard and others were prosecuted for the attack. Harding later pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution.
"There's a moment when Nancy and Tonya see each other again for the first time at the Olympics and Nancy is wearing the dress she was wearing when she was attacked," said co-founder of "1994 Nancy Kerrigan Tonya Harding Museum" Matt Harkins.
This obsession started about a year ago when these best friends watched the documentary
"We had an empty hallway so we decided to start a museum dedicated to it," Olen said.
"At first, we wanted to blow up photos real big but then people started getting in touch with us, actual journalists who covered it – they gave us artifacts,” Harkins said. “You're right next to one that I love, which is this National Enquirer magazine."
Even the film's director Nanette Burstein has visited. So now, these pop culture curators have started a new project a few feet away, in their kitchen.
This is the staging area for the next exhibit: 'The Olsen Twins' hiding from the paparazzi, which we hopefully want to do for two weeks.
The new Olsens exhibit has a lot of interactive components including a Blackberry, shown in the video above, that you can hide behind.
Plus this insta-twin mirror so you can be like Marie Kate and Ashley. Matt and Vivian have a new kickstarter campaign and hope to move this exhibit to a storefront.
Find out more including their somewhat secret location on their website.