Humor
On writing a novel in screenplay format, the possibilities of humor, and the plurality of Asian American identity.
On writing a novel in screenplay format, the possibilities of humor, and the plurality of Asian American identity.
Once there was a man who was tired of breathing. It’s just such a drag, he said. So he decided to stop, but found that he couldn’t—the air just kept going in and out.
The cartoonist on her new book of comics, embracing intensity, and returning to her artistic origins.
The two artists discuss pleasure and participatory viewership in their work, and how each is linked to opposing qualities of discomfort and alienation.
The New York-based painter and video artist on the tragicomic nature of wannabes and scenesters.
The poet on the virtues of improv, the cost of solitude, and having deep conversations with other texts.
Asking the question, “Why are we like this?”
The use and abuse of art in an imperfect world.
“I love titles that sound good in the mouth.”
The writer discusses growing up in the Borscht Belt, the prevalence of literary humor, and the power of feminist punch lines.
You are magnetic in the old way. / For Duchamp, the neutrality of objects / You stand in a room of your own design. / becomes a sort of anti-aesthetic
The Restless Souls novelist on reading his reviews, working as a medical equipment tester, and writing responsibly about war and trauma.
The comic turmoil of the mundane, with musical accompaniment.
Filled with hairspray and dog-smoke / and cigarette meat / at the meeting in the big town-hall / of the small provincial town of / sleep
The novelists on Vietnam, Norman Mailer, and the dragon’s perspective.
The canoe is covered in canvas, and something is trapped in the weave, deep under the shellac. A knot perhaps, or stitch.
Embracing boredom and creative constraints, Katchadourian tells of in-flight artwork and other conceptual projects.
A performance artist who grew up in the circus uses clowning, street dance, and butoh in playful and provocative combinations.
When I look at Jordan Kantor’s visual art, I think of poems.
