Tim Youd Rewrites Novels Live at Atlanta Contemporary – WABE

Visual artist and performance artist Tim Youd has set himself the task of retyping 100 novels in the United States and parts of Europe. He doesn’t do it on a computer, but on a typewriter. When he’s done, he transforms the pages into works of art. He’ll soon finish retyping Tayari Jones’ “An American Marriage,” making it his 82nd novel to retype.

In a recent interview, Youd opened up to “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes about his creative process. “What I really try to do is be a good reader, and so anything I rewrite, I’ve read it at least once,” he said. “I associate that with the idea of ​​literary pilgrimage, and I go to places that are somehow connected to the novel itself, or the author’s life, or the setting… something like that.”

His experience with typing novels has changed over the years, as has his goal with the project. Youd shared, “The evolution[for him]internally has been, ‘Hey, I started retyping novels that I grew up with as a young man. And now I’m retyping novels that expand my worldview.’ It’s a deliberate evolution on some level, but also a kind of accidental journey that’s taken me into new territory.”

Her solo exhibition, “Georgia Retyped,” is on view at the Atlanta Contemporary through October 6.