Disss-co (A Fragment), Douglas Crimp & Henrik Olesen

Douglas Crimp (b. Coeur d’Alene, USA, 1944; d. New York, USA, 2019) was one of the most influential art critics, curators, and AIDS activists of his time. His writings on representation and critique remain uncontested milestones in the debate over AIDS and queer aesthetics. The essay “Disss-co (A Fragment)” reads as a primer to his pioneering studies of queer subcultures and New York’s underground scene. In light of today’s renewed repression of subcultural—sexual and ethnic—communities, the text has lost none of its relevance.

The art works of Henrik Olesen (b. 1967) often focus on sexual politics. In this publication he shows excerpts from the project Lack of Information, 2001. Arranged as a grid, the work presents a map of different laws worldwide that are directed against gays, lesbians and transgenders. Among other topics, the work examines anti-gay and sodomy laws, migration and adoption rights, and statistics on hate crimes. It also contains information on the frequency of same-sex behavior among animal species.

KONTEXT, a series by DISTANZ, brings together artists and writers for an exchange between the worlds of writing and contemporary art. With commissioned text, reissued essays, or experimental writing, the publication series seeks to look at and comment on current debates through writing and contemporary art.