The latest exhibit/installation from the Trummerkind art collective (aka “the mall artists”), is taking place this month at the 5 Traverse Gallery in Providence’s Fox Point. Collective members are living inside the gallery while creating a mural on the gallery’s walls. Above, James J.A. Mercer works on the mural in the background as Michael Townsend talks to a visitor.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

Last fall, members of Providence’s Trummerkind art collective became instant celebrities when one of their more audacious projects — a secret “apartment” inside Providence Place mall — was uncovered by mall security guards. The discovery led to the arrest of the group’s leader, Michael Townsend, and prompted mall owner General Growth Properties to file a lawsuit against the collective’s core group of six to seven artist-provocateurs.

Nevertheless, the story of how a plucky band of artists managed to live, off and on, inside the mall for nearly four years without being caught seemed to capture the public’s imagination. (Townsend, who followed news coverage of the event online, says the story circulated as far away as Pakistan and South Africa.)

Before their mall-squatting exploits became famous, however, Townsend and his Trummerkind crew were best known for another kind of artistic intervention. Specifically, they were known for creating elaborate murals using little more than strips of colored painter’s tape. Over the past few years, these “tape art” murals have popped up in a dizzying array of locations — everywhere from the streets of New York City (where Townsend and his group created a tribute to the victims of the 9/11 suicide attacks) to local schools and hospitals.

Now comes “Tape Art Artaquarium,” Trummerkind’s new installation cum-performance piece at Providence’s 5 Traverse Gallery. Like the group’s mall-apartment project, the “Artaquarium” is a quirky blend of performance art and reality TV. For the next three weeks, for example, Trummerkind members will be at the gallery 24/7, taking turns living, sleeping, working and hanging out. They’re also documenting their activities and posting the results online. (You’ll find the live video feed at www.tapeart.com.)

During their stay at 5 Traverse, Townsend and his crew will also be creating a tape art mural on the gallery’s walls. When I stopped by the gallery last week, things were just getting started — a process that involved measuring the walls and making preliminary sketches using their favorite medium: green painter’s tape. Townsend said the group’s progress had been hampered by a combination of factors, ranging from a balky Internet connection to curious passersby who kept wandering into the gallery and asking questions.

At the same time, Townsend made it clear that piquing people’s curiosity was one of his goals.

“That’s part of the process,” he said. “People come in, they ask us what’s going on, we talk. Sometimes we talk about the art, sometimes we talk about something else. It’s all part of the larger dialogue.”

As for the mural, Townsend said it was tied to another Trummerkind project — creating a music video for the Boston-based rock/reggae band State Radio. Townsend said the mural and the video would both explore the phenomenon of memory and would be based on materials supplied by the band. He also said the two projects — the mural and the music video — would keep evolving during the run of “Artaquarium.”

“Basically, we’ll keep adding to the mural right up until the end of the show,” he said. “Once the show is over, we’ll look at ways to mix some of the live video footage into the State Radio video.”

If all this sounds a bit confusing, don’t worry. Even Townsend, a lanky 37-year-old who began his tape-art career while attending the Rhode Island School of Design, confessed that he sometimes has trouble keeping up.

“It’s definitely a lot of stuff to keep track of,” he said. “It seems like every time we do something, we think, ‘This is it, it can’t get any more complicated.’ Then we find a way to make it more complicated.”

An opening for “Tape Art Artaquarium” is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. tomorrow night.

“Tape Art Artaquarium” runs through Feb. 25 at the 5 Traverse Gallery, 5 Traverse Street (off Wickenden Strteet) in Providence. Regular gallery hours are Wednesday- Saturday 11-7. For more information, call (401) 278-4968 or visit www.5traverse.com.

bvansicl@projo.com