MFA Art Writing presents Ariel Goldberg, who will give a talk and read from their book of essays The Estrangement Principle, published in late 2016 by Nightboat Books. Goldberg unravels the problematic label "queer art" by consistently arguing for a wider range of associations with art made by queer identified people. The Estrangement Principle brings the complexity of the communities and relationships behind art and literary histories into focus by mixing cultural criticism, close readings and personal anecdotes, all the while developing a deftly wrought polemic.

Excerpt from The Estrangement Principle:

"I began collecting the phrase 'queer art' in all its sweaty megaphone pronouncements. I felt pricked by 'queer art,' which I heard being uttered all around me in the titles of group shows, dance parties, anthologies, mission statements, press releases. I was also collecting palpable silences around events that could have used the word ‘queer,’ but didn’t. I had to get close to this description, like I get close to frames in museums, breathe on their glass and notice the dust. I wanted to get so close my vision would blur."

Ariel Goldberg is a writer, artist and curator interested in intimate modes of observation. Their publications include The Estrangement Principle (Nightboat Books, 2016) and The Photographer (Roof Books, 2015). Goldberg is the Friday night coordinator at The Poetry Project, championing interdisciplinary programming featuring artists, activists, scholars, archivists and, of course, poets. Their research and performance based work has been supported by the New York Public Library, Franklin Furnace Fund, Headlands Center for the Arts, The Invisible Dog, Residencias Artísticas Intercambios and SOMA in Mexico City. They teach at Parsons, The New School, Pratt Institute and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Photography & Imaging.

Talk

Ariel Goldberg: "The Estrangement Principle"

MFA Art Writing