The Working End of My Gas Space Heater

Lofts in the SoHo section of Manhattan were primarily commercially zoned, and heated by the landlords only during working hours. At night and on weekends the radiators were cold. In the 1960s and 1970s artists began moving into these lofts and were living in them illegally with the tacit approval of landlords who were happy to get whatever rent they could in a soft rental market. Artists had to improvise, installing make-shift kitchens, showers and heaters. Overhead gas space heaters were commonly used to provide heat. They were loud, vibrated, heated unevenly, and sometimes made a loud popping sound or spewed black carbon. Improperly vented exhaust systems were subject to leaking back into the loft. The artist came to have an intimate relationship with his heater, in terms of the effort put into keeping it working, and in this image he portrays its operational parts. This print was published in a portfolio with a group of artists to commemorate the United States Bicentennial in 1976.