For four decades, artist, writer, curator, and teacher Nayland Blake has been at the center of discussions of queer aesthetics and contemporary art. Their work has examined racial hybridity, the ins and outs of the BDSM world, and the importance of self-representation. From interviews, and critical essays to performance scripts and collage pieces, My Studio Is a Dungeon Is the Studio gathers forty years of Blake's groundbreaking thought and writing on their personal explorations of kink and creativity as well as on the making, teaching, and curating art and queer culture. Whether delving into furry fandom or analyzing art, Blake bridges the art and queer kink communities. They also argue that queer artists must champion the work of their peers and elders. As Blake demonstrates throughout, sexual self-expression is an extension of artistic self-expression: they are the same. The volume includes an introduction by artist and critic Jarrett Earnest.
Nayland Blake is an artist, curator, and Co-director of the Studio Arts Program at Bard College. They are coeditor of In a Different Light: Visual Culture, Sexual Identity, Queer Practice. Jarrett Earnest is an artist, writer, and author of What it Means to Write About Art: Interviews with Art Critics.
List of Acknowledgments xi Acknowledgments xiii A Fan Writes . . .: An Introduction by Jarrett Earnest 1 The Difficulties That Afflict Us in Art School 15 Assessing My Work 18 Tom of Finland: An Appreciation 21 The ABCs of Art Institutions 32 Performance Script 37 The Saddest Story I Know 49 Schreber, Roussel, Duchamp 58 Performance Script 64 The Secret Square 71 One Hand Clapping: Porn Reviews 85 Bay Area Conceptualism: Two Generations 102 Queer Mysteries 109 Interview by John Grange and Stephen Johnstone 114 City of Hares: A Proposal 133 Curating "In a Different Light" 136 The Story of H. (Excerpt) 165 Hare Follies 169 Jack Smith: The Message from Atlantis 190 Ray Johnson: Correspondences 205 Top Ten 210 James Gobel 214 Matthew Benedict: Shroud of Truro 219 Judie Bamber: Further Horizons 225 Seven Quick Notes on Writing an Artist's Statement 230 Kathy Acker: "Because I Want to Live Forever in Wonder" 233 Jim Hodges: Theme from Mantrip 245 Interview with Jesse Pearson 250 Nancy Grossman: Misrecognized 260 Free! Love! Tool! Box! Workbook 265 Anthony Friedkin: "And I'm Carmen Miranda"-What Liberation Looks Like 267 Queer at CAA 274 Samwise Gamgee Cries, with Padding 280 Interview with TIna Horn 284 100 Assignments: Toward a Curriculum 289 Shambling Monstrosity Seeks Mad Scientist 297 Embarrass, Humiliate, Degrade, Objectify: Basics of Psychological Status Play 300 In My Dream Body: For Jorge Zontal and General Idea 307 Yummy Slurp! The Pippa Garner Story 312 My Studio Is a Dungeon Is the Studio 319 Contributors 335 Index
