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Rye Dag Holmboe
Rye Dag Holmboe is a writer and PhD candidate in History of Art at University College, London. He has recently co-authored and co-edited the book JocJonJosch: Hand in Foot, published by the Sion Art Museum, Switzerland (2013). He has recently edited Jolene, an artist's book which brings together the works of the poet Rachael Allen and the photographer Guy Gormley, which will be published later this year. His writings have appeared in The White Review, Art Licks and in academic journals.

Articles Available Online


Art and its Functions: Recent Work by Luke Hart

Art

June 2016

Rye Dag Holmboe

Art

June 2016

Luke Hart’s Wall, recently on display at London’s William Benington Gallery, is a single, large-scale sculpture composed of a series of steel tubes held...

Art

February 2015

Filthy Lucre

Rye Dag Holmboe

Art

February 2015

White silhouettes sway against softly gradated backgrounds: blues, purples, yellows and pinks. The painted palm trees are tacky and...

Rivers Solomon’s SORROWLAND is a gothic horror tale that shows how injustices imposed on Black Americans change us Sweeping and expansive in its ambition, it’s a novel that crosses genres and ideas, resulting in something darkly enchanting and oddly salient SORROWLAND is anchored by an intriguing central character: Vern, a young woman who is haunted and on the run after leaving a Black separatist cult She is 19, and pregnant; the father of the child is the leader of the cult She hides out in a nearby forest, where she gives birth to twins, Howling and Feral As the plot unfolds, Vern is hounded by the US government, individuals connected to the cult and supernatural creatures A mysterious fungus is growing inside of her, resulting in a slow metamorphosis that is intertwined with the past She finds herself fleeing from it all    The significance of Cain, the base of the cult and the compound where Vern grows up, is an analogy for ideas of Black liberation Cain is a cocoon of sorts, a shelter fashioned from movements such as the Black Panthers to tackle the injustices of slavery, racism and inherited trauma Its founders intended to make a world free from the influence of white society, specifically designed to facilitate Black independence Removed from the functions of capitalism, Cain fosters Black cultures while protecting its people Its inhabitants rely on their own ingenuity for survival and live off the land Its children are named after great historical figures such as Harriet, Malcolm and Martin There are no policemen in Cain, Solomon’s nod to the growing call for abolition in modern times But there is a flaw in its ideology: it is suffocated by an archaic Christian influence Girls are not educated in the same way boys are, queerness is considered a major problem created by white men Women are encouraged to submit to their husbands and heterosexuality is the norm Solomon does a fine job in animating the repressive elements of Cain, spotlighting an inherent problem shared by movements that claim to have a solution for human survival: it

Contributor

August 2014

Rye Dag Holmboe

Contributor

August 2014

Rye Dag Holmboe is a writer and PhD candidate in History of Art at University College, London. He has...

feature

October 2012

Pressed Up Against the Immediate

Rye Dag Holmboe

feature

October 2012

The author Philip Pullman recently criticised the overuse of the present tense in contemporary literature, a criticism he stretched...

Existere: Documenting Performance Art

feature

September 2012

David Gothard

Jo Melvin

John James

Rye Dag Holmboe

feature

September 2012

The following conversation was held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, in May 2012. The event took place almost a year after a...
Gabriel Orozco: Cosmic Matter and Other Leftovers

Art

March 2011

Rye Dag Holmboe

Art

March 2011

‘To live,’ writes Walter Benjamin, ‘means to leave traces’. As one might expect, Benjamin’s observation is not without a certain melancholy. Traces are lost...

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Interview

Issue No. 11

Interview with Alice Oswald

Max Porter

Interview

Issue No. 11

Alice Oswald is a British poet who lives in Devon with her family. Newspaper profiles will inevitably mention the...

feature

February 2011

Old media, new year: China’s CCTV woos the nation’s netizens

Shepherd Laughlin

feature

February 2011

The CCTV New Year’s gala broadcast, known in Mandarin as Chunwan, is probably the most massive media event you’ve...

Interview

Issue No. 17

Interview with George Saunders

Aidan Ryan

Interview

Issue No. 17

The American short story writer George Saunders has the kind of reputation that makes one hesitate before typing his...

 

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