Art + Squat = X

Abstract

This paper was written for a talk of 2012 at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. It is greatly indebted to the researches of the SqEK (Squatting Europe [or Everywhere] Kollectiv).The experiences and researches in New York City and Europe which form the basis of my analysis here are expanded in the 2015 book Occupation Culture, and glossed by firsthand texts by squatters in the anthology Making Room. I have revised this text some for this 2021 publication, but it is firmly rooted in its moment of optimism – the movement of the squares and Occupy Wall Street. Things have changed a lot since then in this most changeable of worlds.