Travis Jeppesen Books

Essays that forge a path to a truly radical “bad” modernism in art and literature. What, exactly, constitutes the “bad”? Can one consciously produce in the name of “badness,” or is badness a value judgment that comes after the fact, from an Other? How does one begin to assign aesthetic value to an object? If one is to accept the “bad” as “good,” or to find aesthetic value in badness, then when does the bad succeed and when does it fail? If, pace Beckett, we are to embrace failure as an inevitable goal, then isn't it necessary to invent a new mode of criticism that accommodates this aesthetic reality? Travis Jeppesen's Bad Writing offers a series of interconnected essays, many of which appear in print for the first time, forging a pathway for a truly radical “bad” modernism in art and literature. He explores the terrain of failure, assessing the situation of the twenty-first century literary avant-garde; considers the work of perennial outsiders; and offers “ficto-criticisms,” including his controversial, no-holds-barred takedown of the 2015 Venice Biennale, originally published in Art in America. Erudite, irreverent, witty, and occasionally controversial, Bad Writing reinvigorates the too-often staid medium of art criticism as an iconoclastic and inventive literary art form.

In addition to sensual appetency, Rainer Fetting's paintings of men testify to a high degree of compositional reflection. The works, produced between 1974 and 2010, encompass different facets of male eroticism and identity: the classic nude, the bathing boy, or the man in drag. With essays by Travis Jeppesen and Thomas Wagner as well as sixty-five color illustrations, this volume pays tribute not only to the subject of male images, but to Fetting's extremely extensive oeuvre. Neben sinnlicher Appetenz bezeugen Rainer Fettings Männerbilder ein hohes Maß an kompositorischer Reflektiertheit. Verschiedene Facetten männlicher Erotik und Identität finden sich auf den zwischen 1974 und 2010 entstandenen Werken wieder: der klassische Akt, der badende Boy oder der Mann im Fummel. Mit den Aufsätzen von Travis Jeppesen und Thomas Wagner sowie seinen 65 farbigen Abbildungen würdigt dieser Band nicht nur das Thema der Männerbilder, sondern auch das Werk eines großen deutschen Malers der Gegenwart.

Exploring the theme of isolation versus connection, this book delves into the life of a unique character who embodies the idea that no one is truly alone, except for one exceptional individual. Through a blend of introspective narrative and engaging storytelling, it examines the complexities of human relationships and the impact of solitude. The protagonist's journey reveals profound insights into the nature of existence, prompting readers to reflect on their own connections and the significance of community in their lives.

"During the first decade of the second millenium, a group of seven friends occupies an indeterminate house in an unidentifiable American suburb and replays a continuous loop of eternal exile and youth"--Back cover.

Poetry. Travis Jeppesen's debut collection POEMS I WROTE WHILE WATCHING TV is a ruthlessly implosive meditation on the death of language in a media-saturated world. Perfectly complimented by Jeremiah Palecek's sardonic illustrations, POEMS I WROTE WHILE WATCHING TV ponders the mundane and the un-nameable with a highly personal mixture of devastation and humor.

A "close-up look at the cloistered country" (USA Today), See You Again in Pyongyang is American writer Travis Jeppesen's "probing" and "artful" (New York Times Book Review) chronicle of his travels in North Korea--an eye-opening portrait that goes behind the headlines about Trump and Kim, revealing North Koreans' "entrepreneurial spirit, and hidden love of foreign media, as well as their dreams and fears" (Los Angeles Times). In See You Again in Pyongyang, Travis Jeppesen culls from his experiences traveling and studying in North Korea to create a multifaceted portrait of the country and its idiosyncratic capital city. Jeppesen challenges the notion that Pyongyang is merely a "showcase capital" where everything is staged for the benefit of foreigners, as well as the idea that Pyongyangites are brainwashed robots. Jeppesen introduces readers to an array of fascinating North Koreans, from government ministers with a side hustle in black market Western products to young people enamored with American pop culture. Revealing a complex society, rife with contradictions, See You Again in Pyongyang is an essential addition to the literature about one of the world's most fascinating places.

Tato kniha byla vydána českým nakladatelstvím Twisted Spoon Press, které sídlí v Praze a vydává díla českých a slovanských autorů v anglickém jazyce. Oficiální anotace nakladatele: A sculptor dying of a mysterious illness leaves the city behind in order to live out his final days in solitude in a village somewhere in Eastern Europe. His sole contact is with a deaf-mute gravedigger named Vojtech, a golem-like figure who delivers the necessary provisions — when he remembers to show up. A nameless wanderer traverses the barren streets of an unknown city in search of his next prey ... Author of the critically acclaimed novel Victims, Travis Jeppesen has sculpted an absurdist drama of banal interactions via two parallel stories that never directly intersect, but rather hover interdependently in a polluted atmospheric stasis. Rife with ghosts and illusions perdues, at times violent and scatological, Wolf at the Door confronts fear and devastation, destruction and creation, the decay of both spirit and body with a blend of intense black humor and linguistic inventiveness that dares to ponder what happens after The End: of both art and life.