Loft Law: The Last of New York's Artist Lofts

“Unique view into the past but for the future.”

“guy barges into the last few homes of elder artists in NY and asks whatyadoin' + howyalivin' real life examples of artists organizing + getting a law passed to give them space to create & live. been skimming + referencing it this year while building out a lil art studio that wont implode in the mess. got a few ideas about storage, livin’, organization. and what good or worse ergonomic practice can look like. artbook.com → bookshop.org → damianibooks.com → (outside US)”

“Hundreds of artists in New York City have been living in industrial lofts and similar settings going back as far as the '60s as part of a loft law enacted by the city. The buildings used to be marked A.I.R. ("artist in residence") to let firefighters know that somebody lived there in case of a fire in what appeared to be an abandoned building. Joshua has been documenting these artists, their spaces, and their stories for several years, and shares more than two hundred of them in this book. I happened to get a first edition, but he's taking pre-orders for a second edition now.”