Crimeways

The third in the Ways Books series of books as conceptual art: anthologies of anonymously written stories which, put together, are “novels” that challenge our notions of traditional narrative genres. Conceived by international conceptual artist Rita McBride and produced with the Whitney Museum of American Art, one of America’s preeminent art institutions, and Printed Matter, Inc., one of New York’s leading artist-run centers, the Ways Books are creating waves in literary and visual arts circles everywhere.

Where Heartways took on the romance genre, and Futureways science fiction, Crimeways tackles the genre of detective novels with aplomb: tales of cops, private investigators, and art-world fugitives that simultaneously work within and outside the detective novel genre. Specifically, Crimeways tells the tale of a New York under siege by an underground of aesthetic criminals who threaten to destroy a landmark in the name of art; the book’s hero attempts to save the Big Apple from artistic fascists as well as bad taste. In an age in which a piece of art can take over the imagination of not only a large city but a country, for better or worse (Christo’s “The Gates”), Crimeways asks compelling questions about visual art, urban space, and the politics of good and evil art.

Contributors include: British novelist Geoff Nicholson, author of The Hollywood Dodo, (Simon & Schuster); former gay porn writer Jack Pretzer; architects Roger Duffy and Dana Bauer; Gordon Wallace, editor of Honcho, Mandate, and Playguy; and photographer Nick Briggs, the model for David Hemmings’ character in the Antonioni film Blow-Up.

Rita McBride is a conceptual artist whose projects vary from unorthodox books to monumental sculptures; a 60-meter-tall carbon structure entitled “Mae West” will be erected in Munich in 2006.

Matthew Licht is a writer, artist, and filmmaker whose books include Ivy League Dick, The Ridiculous Avenger, and Chicky Run.