If You Lived Here...: The City in Art, Theory, and Social Activism

This volume documents the present crisis in American urban housing policies and portrays how artists, through the medium of a Dia Foundation-sponsored art event and within the context of neighborhood organizations, have fought against government neglect, shortsighted housing policies and unfettered real estate speculation. Through essays, photographs, symposiums, architectural plans and the reproduction of works from the series of exhibitions organized by artist Rosler, the book serves a number of functions: it's a practical manual for community organizing; a history of housing and homelessness in New York City and around the country; and an outline of what a humane housing policy might encompass for the American city. Essays by Rosler, filmmaker Yvonne Rainer as well as contributions by social critic Marshall Berman and a variety of community activists, filmmakers, architects, artists, historians and social critics include discussion of issues such as whether artists have special housing needs, gentrification and displacement, and the conditions and causes of homelessness. Wallis is an editor at Art in America. (Nov.)