商品簡介
After being kicked out of her apartment in Brooklyn in 1992, and unable to afford rent anywhere near her school, young art student Ash Thayer found herself with few options to keep a roof over her head. Luckily for Thayer, she was soon welcomed as a guest in what was quickly becoming a new squat in New York's East Village.
New York City in the '90s saw the streets of the East Village overun with derelict buildings, junkies huddled in dark corners, and dealers packing guns hawking cheap heroin on its corners. Artists and punks flocked to the area to snatch up abandoned and unwanted real estate, some with a lease, some on a hand shake, and others simply by hopping a fence or climbing through a broken window.
Squatters took over entire buildings in Alphabet City and claimed them for their own, however, these structures were hardly habitable for humans and were incredibly dangerous. Overrun with vermin, lacking plumbing, electricity, let alone walls, floors, and a roof - here began an epic rebuilding project run by punks, outcasts, and rebels brave enough to tackle a gargantuan undertaking to create homes for themselves and others.
The squatters were forced to be secretive and exclusive as a result of their poor legal standing in the buildings and few outsiders were welcome and fewer photographers or journalists. Ash observed them training each other in these necessary crafts and finding much of their materials in the overflowing bounty that is New York City's refuse and trash. Thayer's camera accompanied her everywhere and she photographed as much as possible, whenever possible. Living as a student by day and scraping by on part-time jobs to play her role in this fascinating, underground world which unfolded around her, Thayer lived at the squats and worked alongside other residents. The trust earned from her subjects was unique and her access intimate. Kill City is a true untold story of a New York legend - East Village's squatters.
作者簡介
Ash Thayer is a photographer and multi-media visual artist based in Los Angeles. She received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts from The School of Visual Arts, and a Masters of Fine Art from Columbia University in New York. Thayer has exhibited her work at venues including The Lawrence Miller Gallery and The Proposition Gallery in New York, the Berlin Art Fair, Kean College in New Jersey, The Museum of the City of New York, and The Chicago Art Institute. Her work is held in several public art collections including the Saatchi Gallery in London, The Chicago Art Institute, and The Museum of the City of New York. She has taught as an adjunct professor at New York University, Columbia University, and The New York Institute of Photography. She studied acting and directing at the Terry Schreiber Studio in New York, and has performed both on stage and in film. She recently wrote, produced, directed, and acted in a short film, "Without You," that is a part of her "Love Letter" project, which will be released in 2014.
