The Nervous Fictions

In conjunction with the duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset’s exhibition The Nervous System at Pace Gallery in New York, a group of professional and student writers penned short stories responding to the highly narrative presentation. Having received some 20 submissions from MFA candidates at New York University, the artists selected one winner, Michelle Canales Butcher, and three finalists, Robert Franklin, Sarah Lieberman, and August Thompson. Along with the students, writers Garth Greenwell, Katie Kitamura, and Hari Kunzru have composed new work informed by Elmgreen & Dragset’s exhibition. All of these stories, which can be found below, offer multifarious, imaginative interpretations of the figurative sculptures and domestic scene in Pace’s exhibition.