Fish, an aspiring painter, leaves the safe haven of home and moves into a dwelling unit inside an industrial building. Carrying a mixed bag of ambivalence and possibilities, her new independence shares the upsides and downsides of a subsistence living in the enclave of artists and musicians, where the strains of life – dissatisfaction with the government and an ever-looming threat of eviction – are tempered by a healthy dose of optimism and humour. The habitat of Fish and company may not be the land of la dolce vita but it’s an oasis of dreams in a desert of reality, however transient and haphazard.