As Art Basel and the Miami Book Fair are poised to return, here's some news that bridges the gap between modern art and literature: In February, artist Tim Youd embarked on a five-year project in which he plans to retype 100 novels in locations related to the novel and author. From December 4 through 8 at Aqua Art Miami, Youd will be typing the crime comedy classic Get Shorty by the late Elmore Leonard.
The first paragraph of the novel takes place on the same Collins Avenue as the Aqua Hotel where Youd will retype the entire novel on the same make and model typewriter as Leonard used. He will type all 300 pages on two sheets of paper sandwiched together, running it over and over again. When he's done he will have a top sheet that has taken all the ink and a bottom sheet which has accumulated all the indentation of the entire novel. These two pages mount side by side in diptych form, as a relic of the performance and a representation of the book itself.
To discuss his performance and the wit of the recently deceased Elmore Leonard, New Times caught up with Youd in Santa Ana, California, where he's retyping two Phillip K. Dick novels.
