The worlds of art and writing have always been close — friendly at some moments, suspicious and derisive at others
Dear Reader,
The worlds of art and writing have always been close — friendly at some moments, suspicious and derisive at others. They have met and interacted for many years, mostly through the work of the stricken souls who travel in between, spending time in both places, trying to describe and explain one to the other. This is a difficult task, as bridging worlds usually is. They’ve been traveling for many years, since Samuel Richardson and Tristram Shandy, Baudelaire and Picasso, and yet, despite the years, the task remains just as difficult as it always was.
Dear Reader,
The worlds of art and writing have always been close — friendly at some moments, suspicious and derisive at others. They have met and interacted for many years, mostly through the work of the stricken souls who travel in between, spending time in both places, trying to describe and explain one to the other. This is a difficult task, as bridging worlds usually is. They’ve been traveling for many years, since Samuel Richardson and Tristram Shandy, Baudelaire and Picasso, and yet, despite the years, the task remains just as difficult as it always was.
In this issue we have gathered writers, academics, artists, curators, and poets who continually make that difficult task theirs. You will find writers who dedicate their words to art, and artists who dedicate their art to words. Poets who consider the relationship between words and music. You will also find many pieces that are bridges in and of themselves. Here is an issue of a literary review dedicated to making art just as important as the literature and words we value. This is also a big thank you to LARB’s art director, Megan Cotts, who has served as tireless and deft ambassador. May our roads get shorter and shorter. May other worlds and their strange ways at least be visible from where we stand.
Yours,
Medaya
Editor, Quarterly Journal
ESSAYS
“Odysseus as Artist” by Paul Chan
“The Poverty of Our Actual Condition: Noguchi and Poston” by Matthew Shen Goodman
“Louisiana in Los Angeles: How New Orleans Jazz Traveled to California” by Lynell George
“Here is Something to See: An Interview with Ai Weiwei” by Zandie Brockett
“Seeing and Being Seen” by Barbara Browning
“Collaboration in the Dark” by Karl Whittington
“Translator, Curator, Selfish Lover: Lives and Works in Los Angeles” by Ana Iwataki
FICTION
“Comments on Lindsay Tunkl’s Vimeo Posting…” by Yxta Maya Murray
“The Dan Graves Situation” by Emma Copley Eisenberg
“Delphi” by Lucy Ives
“Hello Earth” by Jess Arndt
POETRY
“Table for One at the Sunset Bistro” by Noah Warren
“La Vita Nuova” by Malachi Black
Two Poems by Lisa Russ Spaar
Two Poems by Eleanor Stanford
Two Poems by Susan Stewart
“Music, 1980” by Katie Peterson
“The Ballad of Jesus Ortiz” by Dana Gioia
SHORTS
“On Sabina Ott’s Social Practice” by Chris Kraus
“The Roses” by Dorothea Lasky
“The Umbilical Cord of Gold” by Claire Bishop
“The Professor” by Chiara Barzini
“Pique” by Hal Foster
HYBRID
“Degrees of Visibility” by Ashley Hunt
Stills from “Lip Gloss Alurt” by Lex Brown
“Obfuscate” by Kay Rosen