Jon Rafman and Dasha Nekrasova on the Horror We Call Life

I don’t want to make art that has a reductive moralistic agenda

the essence of spontaneity is, as Johnstone says, “psychotic, obscene, and unoriginal.”

I recently saw this study about safe spaces, and the research revealed they actually do the opposite of what they’re intended to do and fuck the people who are trying to avoid trauma or anxiety even more. Apparently, not getting exposed to different views is worse for people because you avoid developing critical thinking skills or even empathy. The... See more

Speaking of psychotics, the internet has made so many people go off the deep end. Or it’s also made so many become these disillusioned doomers, irony-poisoned and stuck with a nihilistic outlook. It’s important to acknowledge the realities of the horror show we call life, but also strive to move beyond that and not let the world beat you down or fo... See more

The language of video games is largely unexplored, artistically speaking, and it’s exciting because of their immense cultural impact.

All the stuff emerging from the deep recesses of the web honestly reflects all our repressed fears and desires.

The thing that A.I. can’t do, truly, is improvise. A.I. will never have subconsciousness, and in that way can’t be truly creative. Creativity ultimately springs from human drives, and that’ll be the last thing that differentiates us from machines.

To come up with new ideas, you have to have space to be messy, to procrastinate, and to let your mind wander and free-associate. But there needs to be a balance. You eventually need to channel it into something concrete, or you won’t produce anything.

you and I share this love of taboo subject matters, and we’re both romantics who like the filth and trash of everyday life

RAFMAN: [Laughs] Okay, could you describe it for people out there?

NEKRASOVA: It’s a chihuahua having sex with a pig, with three pit bulls looking at them judgmentally as a storm rolls in.

RAFMAN: Exactly. It was inspired by my deep dives into DeviantArt[.com], which is like a microcosm of the old internet I grew up on, an internet that didn’t sanit... See more