Work in progress: curatorial labor in twenty-first century American fiction

Interrogates contemporary texts that showcase forms of reading practices that feel anachronistic and laborious in times of instantaneity and short buffering times.

Objects of analysis include the graphic narrative Building Stories by Chris Ware, the music album Song Reader by the indie rock artist Beck Hansen, and the computer game Kentucky Route Zero by the programming team Cardboard Computer.

These texts stage their fragmentary nature and alleged 'unfinishedness' as a quintessential part of both their narrative and material modus operandi.

These works in and of progress feel both contemporary and retro in the 21st century.