Episode 16: Alan W. Moore, Tuesday, January 26th, 2021

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Alan W. Moore, art historian and activist

Alan Moore’s work addresses cultural economies and groups and the politics of collectivity. He has worked with artists’ groups Colab and helped start the cultural center ABC No Rio in New York City. Moore has published several books and runs the House Magic information project on self-organized, occupied autonomous social centers. He is currently writing a memoir of his years in the NYC artworld - steeped in NYC cultural history from the '70s thru the early 2000’s.

"Occupations & Properties" blog (since 2009)

“Occupy wasn’t just a movement, it is a long-standing strategy and, frankly, a form of living. Alan W. Moore has seen firsthand more squats and occupations than anyone, and he brings his sensibility to bear on this global phenomena. A must read for occupiers, whether artist, activist or renter.” Nato Thompson

“For decades Alan W. Moore has been an inexhaustible resource at the nexus of art and squatting, pumping out an archive through magazines, books, and art installations. Part memoir, part historical account, Occupation Culture is his newest burst of energy, surging into the squatter-artist canon to spend eternity alongside such well-respected contemporaries as Seth Tobocman, Fly Orr, and Eric Drooker - all of whom make appearances.” Hannah Dobbz, author of Nine-Tenths of the Law: Property and Resistance in the United States (AK Press)

Reporting on close to 40 years of exploits Alan W. Moore’s Occupation Culture is no academic treatise but a Picaresque adventure story filled with both detailed observations and broader reflections on the political and cultural significance of art and squatting that stretches across the Atlantic from the United States to Europe.” Gregory Sholette, author of Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture (Pluto Press)

NYC art-related blog posts “Art Gangs.” Includes previews of forthcoming memoir.

A. W. Moore, Occupation Culture: Art & Squatting in the City from Below (Minor Compositions, 2015) from akpress.org

A. W. Moore, Art Gangs Protest & Conterculture in New York City (Autonomedia, 2011) from akpress.org

Occupation Culture and the edited collection Making Room are online as free PDFs http://occupationculture.net

Moore performed in the 1979 Public Arts International/Free Speech series.