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DETROIT: STORIES
Lynn Crawford, Editor
Peter Markus and Michelle Perron, Guest Editors
Price: $14.00

AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 12, 2008

“Literature is invention. Fiction is fiction. To call a story a true story is an insult to both art and truth.” Vladimir Nabokov

Detroit: Stories, is the third issue of the journal published by Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), which first opened its doors in October, 2006. MOCAD expands contemporary cultural activity in the Detroit Metro area, and, equally important, places Detroit in a position to converse with the global community. Varied exhibitions and accompanying programming contribute to the museum’s success as a hub, attracting people, art, music, and dialogue into the space and the city.

The journal, Detroit:, conceived as an entity similar to an organized exhibition, is another expression of MOCAD; something we can export. To ensure we tap into varied artistic activity, we invite guest editors (also sometimes referred to as co-curators) to collaborate with me and MOCAD staff on each issue. For the first, Detroit: Imaginary Cities, it was the architect (and founder, along with her husband, Mitch Cope, of Hamtramck’s Design 99), Gina Reichert, and graphic designer Danielle Aubert. The second issue, Detroit: Telegraph, was co-edited by the German born, Detroit based, painter, and member of the art collective Telegraph, Hartmut Austen. The fourth issue, Detroit: In Sight, (Fall, 2009), will be co-edited by the performance artist, director, and educator, Aku Kadogo, who divides her time between Sydney, Australia and Detroit.

Working on this third volume is curator Michelle Perron, and fiction writer, Peter Markus. Among the contents: works—most previously unpublished--of the late poet Jim Gustafson; Chris Tysh pens a personal memory of her good friend, the late painter Elizabeth Murray; an interview with the writer Gary Lutz; stories by Noy Holland and Robert Lopez; and Dennis Nawrocki’s take on recent history at the Detroit Institute of Art.

We chose the theme, stories, because we want to explore the potential of stories (what are they; what can they be). Arguably, any artwork, city, or institution is finally characterized by its stories. The above Nabokov quote is from his essay, Good Readers and Good Writers, which examines the nature of invention and the spaces in which invention takes place. Here is another line from the essay, and one useful to consider when perusing the text and images included within the pages:

“Literature was born on the day when a boy came crying wolf, wolf and there was no wolf behind him”

Lynn Crawford, editor