Through Padlocks, Behind Barricades:

Through Padlocks, Behind Barricades (October 17th, 2025 - January 5th, 2026) explores the squatter movement on New York's Lower East Side (Loisaida) in the 1990s. It features Margaret Morton's photographs of life in Glass House, an abandoned glass factory at the corner of Avenue D and E. 10th Street. Several dozen squatters made the building their home for sixteen months, until police evicted them in winter 1994. The exhibition presents Morton's in-depth portrait of one squat, with an array of printed materials exploring the debates that arose over squatters' rights.

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Interference Archive worked in partnership with the Margaret Morton Archive to produce the exhibition, an accompanying zine, three panel discussions, and a film screening. The Morton photographs and “Glass” curtain on view were made from scans of her gelatin silver prints, beautifully produced by Justin Suazo, Owner and Lead Designer of Software Studios and a former student of Margaret's at Cooper Union.

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Below are installation views of the exhibition, photographed by Justin Suazo. Click on each photo to expand to full-size and to read captions.