Kim Hastreiter: STUFF: A New York Life of Cultural Chaos

(Hardback)

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Description

"STUFF is a totally new genre of book, carving out a radically new mode of storytelling. The 448 page tome serves as both testament and beacon, a record of collaboratively- engineered creative intelligence that can guide whoever is looking to continue in its lineage." - WHITNEY MALLET

Kim Hastreiter, the beloved troublemaker and champion of downtown New York, is best known as the co-founder of the iconic, indie, Paper Magazine. She calls herself a cultural anthropologist, but in today's terms she might be better described as a multihyphenate artist who excavates big wild ideas from all corners of culture and brings them to life. Kim has spent the last 50 years amassing a deep and iconoclastic collection of stuff.

STUFF is more than a memoir; it's a loopy, joyous, chaotic ride through the last half century of cultural chaos in the greatest city on earth. STUFF is a storytelling project about an extraordinary slice of history and the people who defined it, using Kim's singular edit of art, fashion, design, photography, books and ephemera as a lens.

In these pages you'll meet Kim's amazing friends: at an all night party in the basement of an East Village church with Keith Haring, a private art sale with Jeffery Deitch in Phylis Diller's kitchen, or impromptu cocktail at Trader Vic's with Salvador Dali and Joey Arias. In Kim's New York, a leopard print Fiorucci look catches the attention of legendary photographer Bill Cunningham and sparks a lifelong friendship. A chance run-in with Kim's neighbor Steve McCurry has her witness the creation of the defining image of 9/11. And a trip with her mother to buy a dining table from Nakashima, sets off a devotion to patina as a form of personal history.

Whether you are an OG or a kid, a culture vulture, artist, design buff, fashion nerd, skater, collector, chef, cinephile, New Yorker, uptowner, downtowner, out of towner, or something else entirely, STUFF will make you feel like you're sitting with Kim in her garden high above Washington Square Park, her booming voice imploring you to follow your heart and listen when the voice inside your head screams YES. Kim is begging us to pursue our lives with compulsive enthusiasm, by generously walking us through her own. STUFF is more than the sum of its parts: it is a provocation and a roadmap for building a creative life.

Co-published by Damiani and Amazing Unlimited.

Reviews

'STUFF is a meteoric rush of wonder, sass, and cool - told in a torrent of sonic booms. I couldn't put it down. ' - MICHAEL STIPE
'The most incredible combination of boundless energy, love and taste. If you need a reason to go on, stay close to Kim. She is a life force of the highest order. ' - MAIRA KALMAN
'Kim is a one person social media. Shell say YOU have to meet THIS person! and is almost always right. Its a public service, no charge. Her STUFF is remnants of a life well lived, but these wacky and wonderful things are also convenient conversation starters, even for someone like me who is somewhat challenged in that area. All of them have stories. Art without pretense, but with lots of surprises. Like Kim, they're connectors. ' - DAVID BYRNE
'This is a guide book to individuality and how to live a fun, joyous life. It is a tome of love for life and should be used as an outline for a new way to live in awe for the next generation. Take nothing for granted and take ownership of your uniqueness. Love what you love passionately and share everything. That's Kim in a nutshell. ' - LISA YUSKAVAGE
'Something profound doesn't need to be overly serious. Kim is one of the most open and playful people Ive ever met. She's also one of the most dedicated, generous, and industrious people I know. This book is like her... overwhelming in range and scope, while deeply human in scale. Detailed and joyous to such a degree that it's unmooring. ' - JAMES MURPHY
'This book is a tour de force in style and creativity! There will no doubt be a room in the NY Public Library dedicated to this uniquely New York City collection.' - ED TEMPLETON
'Kim's STUFF is the most lively and engaging book Ive ever read. There is no end to her creativity. WOW! ' - AGNES GUND
'Kim has a great eye for new talent and treats them from the get-go as the stars they will eventually become. On top of that, she's the best hostess in the world and is the only person who can introduce you to David Byrne, Joey Arias, Michael Stipe, Alba Clemente, Todd Solondz, Debi Mazar, or John Waters in her kitchen. Her enthusiasm makes us feel like better artists than we are. ' - PEDRO ALMODOVAR
'Kim is more of an artist than a collector. The remarkable contents of Kim's Fifth Avenue home, which youll find in this book, should be enshrined in a museum of cultural history.' - JEFFREY DEITCH

Author Bio

Kim Hastreiter is a cultural anthropologist and the original multihyphenate. An artist, creative director, curator, editor, publisher, writer, and big idea person, she is most known for co-founding PAPER Magazine in 1984. She is also an enthusiast and connector who has discoved great talents that she shared with the world. Her career identifying cultural movements and connecting the dots between style, design, and culture is legendary.

Born in New Jersey in1951, Hastreiter received her BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design where she studied with conceptual artworld legends like Vito Acconci, Joseph Beuys, Robert Frank, and Germano Celante. She then received her MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, where she was mentored by the artist John Baldessari. In 1976 Hastreiter moved to New York to become an artist. She sold clothes on Madison Avenue, where she became known for the window displays she created.

After meeting the legendary street photographer Bill Cunningham in 1979, he got her a job as Style Editor for the downtown paper, Soho Weekly News. There she met David Hershkovits, and in 1984 Hastreiter and Hershkovits founded PAPER Magazine in Hastreiters kitchen. Hastreiter served as Co-CEO, editor, publisher, creative director, fashion and design director, writing a monthly column on style, design, and the zeitgeist for three decades. The team also founded papermag.com in 1994 which they designed and built in house. In 2003 they founded Extra Extra, an influencer, content and marketing agency connecting clients like Target, American Express, Estee Lauder, Google, with influencers authentically. The duo sold the company and its divisions in 2017.

Hastreiter has authored four books on culture and style including Geoffrey Beene: An American Fashion Rebel, which was published in 2008, 20 years of Style, From Abfab to Zen as well as a four volume book on photographer Paige Powell. Hastreiter has been profiled in the New Yorker, The New York Times, Crains, The LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, and has appeared on the cover of Folio Magazine. In 2020 during the Covid pandemic, Hastreiter set up an outdoor office in Washington Square Park where she designed, edited, and published a limited edition newspaper and art project called The New Now. In 2024 she created a small ongoing zine series called Memezeens, to address the fragility of history captured in the digital age.

In Spring 2025, Hastreiter will launch her next book, STUFF, which she's been working on for the past five years. STUFF is a 450 page documentation of the chaotic cultural scene Hastreiter witnessed in New York City over the last 50 years all told through the stories of her huge collection of stuff (objects, furniture, art, clothes, books, design and ephemera).