Maintenant 20: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art - by Peter Carlaftes & Kat Georges (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A smorgasbord for those who are sick and tired of it." --Seattle Book Review

"Three Rooms Press doesn't just preserve Dada--they evolve it . . . In an era dominated by algorithmic taste-making and cautious professionalism, Maintenant stands defiantly outside the gate, throwing ink at the walls and planting flags in dreams." --Richard Modiano, author, The Forbidden Lunchbox

Politics has taken its turn to arrive at the worst and the creatures involved have become LOLiticians, their every move from either side laughable--that is, if you still believe in truth. In Maintenant 20: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art, we examine the concept of "Improperganda," with 250 contributors from around the world exploring the idea that without truth, there's no need for disapproval.

The Maintenant Dada series, established in 2008, explores themes of politics, humanity, philosophy, and current concerns from an antiwar, anarchic (and often eye-opening) perspective. Past issues include work by artists Mark Kostabi, Raymond Pettibon, Joel Hubaut, Heide Hatry, Avelino de Araujo, Pawel Kuczynski, Inas Al-Soqi, Giovanni Fontana, Nicole Eisenmann, Syporca Whandal, and Kazunori Murakami; past writers have included Gerard Malanga, Charles Plymell, Andrei Codrescu, Harry E. Northup, Malik Crumpler, Maw Shein Win, and more, with a strong contingent of artist-writers from the world of punk rock, including Thurston Moore, Mike Watt, Bibbe Hansen and more.

Review Quotes

"A compilation of leading Dada-influenced artists from around the world; Timely and relevant." --Tribe LA Magazine

"Proof that Dada is not dead." --Madjan Magazine (Serbia)

"Utilizing a myriad of styles and mediums, artists and writers draw us into a Dada world, the world we are living in, like nothing else . . . . it will blow your mind." --Home Planet News

"A moving and thoughtful exploration of war and peace . . . of ways to think creatively about humanity's penchant for destruction, and what it might take to bring about peace." --Shona Reads Book Reviews

"Three Rooms Press, which has been producing Maintenant since 2008, calls this a journal, but it's more like a series of pageants, or more to the point, anti-pageants, glorious protest parades that fill the streets with punk and jazz and graffiti and wry ire, pausing before the grandstand only to burn flags, fling mirrors, and enact human realness. And what better time for it! Check it out." --Richard Loranger, author, Mammal

"Three Rooms Press doesn't just preserve Dada--they evolve it. They remind us that irreverence is a form of witness, that humor and horror are not opposites, and that chaos can be strangely clarifying. In an era dominated by algorithmic taste-making and cautious professionalism, Maintenant stands defiantly outside the gate, throwing ink at the walls and planting flags in dreams." --Richard Modiano, author, The Forbidden Lunchbox

"Excellent examples of collage and montage techniques . . . Interesting visual poems." --Portland Book Review

"The quality is excellent . . . deceptively light, offhand, baffling [that] can really be a life preserver." --Catherine Rutgers, artist

"An interesting perspective." --Manhattan Book Review

"A smorgasbord for those who are sick and tired of it." --Seattle Book Review

About the Author

Kat Georges is a New York City-based poet, playwright, publisher, and graphic designer. Her books include two poetry collections, Awe and Other Words Like Wow and Our Lady of the Hunger, and the play collection Three Somebodies: Plays about Notorious Dissidents. Her poetry and prose work has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, Love Love Magazine (Paris), Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts, Arriving at a Shoreline, Signs of Life: San Francisco Short Stories, and numerous regional and international journals and magazines. She co-edits the annual Maintenant Contemporary Dada Art and Writing Journal. She is co-founder, editor and creative director at Three Rooms Press (New York). She lives in Manhattan.