Badlands Unlimited was a New York-based independent publisher founded by the artist Paul Chan in 2010. The press published texts by and with other artists in the form of paperbacks, ebooks, digital group exhibitions, a stone book, and other various media. The press also consulted on projects related to digital publishing for art institutions. As of late 2019, Badlands Unlimited has "closed for good". Badlands books have been featured and reviewed in the ''New York Times'', ''New York Review of Books'', ''Bookforum'', ''Publishers Weekly'', and ''Vogue'', among many other publications.

History

Paul Chan founded Badlands Unlimited in 2010 with the goal of "creating books in an expanded field." The company's flagship publications, ''The Essential and Incomplete Sade for Sade's Sake'' and ''Phaedrus Pron'' were authored by Chan himself and released as both paperback and e-books. Badlands consisted of fellow artists

Ian Cheng Ian Cheng (born March 29, 1984) is an American artist known for his live simulations that explore the capacity of living agents to deal with change. His simulations, commonly understood as "virtual ecosystems" are "less about the wonders of new t ...

, Micaela Durand, Parker Bruce, and Ambika Subra. With the publication of a book of poetry by choreographer and filmmaker

Yvonne Rainer Yvonne Rainer (born November 24, 1934) is an American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is regarded as challenging and experimental.

, Badlands began its secondary mission of publishing "things no one knew existed." Badlands continued its departure from traditional paperback books with ''Mans in the Mirror'' (2011), a project that Badlands describes as a "first of its kind" 3D e-book. The staff of Badlands authored ''Mirror'' over the course of a single day while under the influence of

mescaline Mescaline or mescalin (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin. Biological sou ...

. Existing solely in e-book format, publication would reinforce Badlands’ emphasis on digital publishing. In 2012 Badlands published ''How to Download A Boyfriend'', the "first-ever group show in the form of an e-book for the iPad." The show featured contributions from over 50 different artists and included interactive multiple-choice questions for the reader. Later in 2012 Badlands Unlimited became the

NY Art Book Fair The NY Art Book Fair is Printed Matter, Inc's annual event, historically held in September or October. The NY Art Book Fair is the world’s largest book fair for artists’ books and related publications, featuring over 370 exhibitors from 30 c ...

's first primarily digital publisher. The press premiered Paul Chan's short story ''Holiday'' as both a digital e-book and on a sandstone tablet with its own ISBN. Badlands further diversified the content of its publications with the release of ''AD BOOK'' by the art collective BFFA3AE in 2013. ''AD BOOK'' is a book consisting solely of advertisements by artists and institutions. In keeping with its secondary mission to publish work revealing heretofore unknown sides of public figures, Badlands published a collection of essays ''On Democracy'' by Saddam Hussein (2012), 22 years' worth of never before collected diagrams and notes by curator and Serpentine Gallery co-director

Hans Ulrich Obrist Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968) is a Swiss art curator, critic, and historian of art. He is artistic director at the Serpentine Galleries, London. Obrist is the author of ''The Interview Project'', an extensive ongoing project of interviews. He is ...

in ''Think Like Clouds'' (2014), and never before published 1964 interviews with

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

Calvin Tomkins Calvin Tomkins (born 17 December 1925) is an author and art critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine. Life and career Tomkins was born in Orange, New Jersey. After graduating from Berkshire School, he attended Princeton University and received an un ...

in ''Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews'' (2013). Badlands’ most recent publication adhering to this pursuit is ''The Best Most Useless Dress'' (2014) by poet and New York Times critic Claudia La Rocco.

Selected books and publications

*2020. ''Word Book''. Ludwig Wittgenstein and Désirée Weber. Trans. Bettina Funke, Catherine Schelbert, and Nickolas Calabrese. Hardcover. * 2019. ''Odysseus and The Bathers''. Paul Chan. Hardcover. *2018. ''Whitewalling: Art, Race & Protest in 3 Acts''. Aruna D'Souza. Paperback. *2018. ''Craig Owens: Portrait of a Young Critic''. Craig Owens, Lyn Blumnenthal, Kate Horsfield, and Lynne Tillman. Paperback. *2017. ''Into Words: The Selected Writings of Carroll Dunham''. Carroll Dunham. Paperback. *2016. ''New Lovers 9: Fantasian''. Larissa Pham. Paperback. *2016. ''New Lovers 8: One Valencia Lane''. Bettina Davis. Paperback. *2016. ''New Lovers 7: Kuntalini''. Tamara Faith Berger. Paperback. *2015. ''New Lovers 6: Burning Blue''. Cara Benedetto. Paperback. *2015. ''New Lovers 5: I Would Do Anything For Love''. Al Bedell. Paperback. *2015. ''New Lovers 4: My Wet Hot Drone Summer''. Lex Brown. Paperback. *2015. ''New Lovers 3: God, I Don't Even Know Your Name''. Andrea McGinty. Paperback. *2015. ''New Lovers 2: We Love Lucy''. Lilith Wes. Paperback. *2015. ''New Lovers 1: How to Train Your Virgin''. Wednesday Black. Paperback. *2015. ''Hippias Minor or The Art Of Cunning: A New Translation''. Plato, Paul Chan, and Richard Fletcher. Trans. Sarah Ruden. Paperback. *2014. ''New New Testament''. Paul Chan. Hardcover. *2014. ''The Best Most Useless Dress.'' Claudia La Rocco. Paperback, e-book. * 2014. ''Think Like Clouds.'' Hans Ulrich Obrist. Paperback, e-book. * 2014. ''Paul Chan: Selected Writings 2000–2014.'' Chan, Paul, George Baker, Eric Banks, Isabel Friedli, and Martina Venanzoni. Paperback, e-book. * 2013. ''AD BOOK.'' BFFA3AE. E-book. * 2013. ''Marcel Duchamp: The Afternoon Interviews'' Calvin Tomkins. Paperback, e-book. * 2013. ''Fires of Siberia.'' Tréy Sager. E-book. * 2012. ''On Democracy.'' Hussein, Saddam, Paul Chan, Jeff Severns Guntzel, Negar Azimi, and Nickolas Calabrese. Paperback, e-book. * 2012. ''HELL_TREE''. Petra Cortright. E-book. * 2012. ''How to Download a Boyfriend.'' E-book. * 2011. ''What is?'' A series of unique hand-made

zines A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very sma ...

, e-book series. * 2011. ''Mans in the Mirrors (in 3D).'' 3-D e-book. * 2011. ''Poems.'' poems by Yvonne Rainer. Print, e-book. *2010. ''Phaedrus Pron''. Paul Chan. Paperback. *2010. ''The Essential and Incomplete Sade for Sade's Sake''. Paul Chan. Paperback.

Notable authors

Etel Adnan Etel Adnan ( ar, إيتيل عدنان; 24 February 1925 – 14 November 2021) was a Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist. In 2003, Adnan was named "arguably the most celebrated and accomplished Arab American author writing today" ...

Cory Arcangel Cory Arcangel (born May 25, 1978) is an American post-conceptual artist who makes work in many different media, including drawing, music, video, performance art, and video game modifications, for which he is best known. Arcangel often uses the ...

Gregg Bordowitz Gregg Bordowitz (born August 14, 1964) is a writer, artist, and activist currently working as a professor in the Video, New Media, and Animation department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Biography Gregg Bordowitz was born August 1 ...

Bernadette Corporation Bernadette Corporation is a New York City and Paris-based art and fashion collective founded in 1994. Core members include Bernadette van Huy, John Kelsey, and Antek Walzcak. Bernadette Corporation is known for its performance, fashion, and art ...

* Paul Chan *

Petra Cortright Petra Cortright (born 1986) is an American artist working in video, painting, and digital media. Biography Petra Cortright was born in 1986 in Santa Barbara, California. Cortright is the daughter of two artists; her father who died when she wa ...

* Aruna D’Souza *

Carroll Dunham Carroll Dunham (born November 5, 1949) is an American painter. Working since the late 1970s, Dunham's career reached critical renown in the 1980s when he first exhibited with Baskerville + Watson, a decade during which many artists returned to p ...

* Craig Owens *

Dread Scott Scott Tyler (born 1965), known professionally as Dread Scott, is an American artist whose works, often participatory in nature, focus on the experience of African Americans in the contemporary United States. His first major work, ''What Is the P ...

Cauleen Smith Cauleen Smith (born September 25, 1967) is an American born filmmaker and multimedia artist. She is best known for her experimental works that address the African-American identity, specifically the issues facing black women today. Smith is bes ...

Martine Syms Martine Syms (born 1988) is an American artist based in Los Angeles who works in publishing, video, installation, and performance. Her work focuses on identity and the portrayal of the self in relation to themes such as feminism and Black cu ...

Yvonne Rainer Yvonne Rainer (born November 24, 1934) is an American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is regarded as challenging and experimental.

* Claudia La Rocco *

Rachel Rose Rachel Rose (born September 20, 1970) is a Canadian/American poet, essayist and short story writer. She has published three collections of poetry, ''Giving My Body to Science'', ''Notes on Arrival and Departure'', and ''Song and Spectacle''. Her ...

* Trey Sager *

Lynne Tillman Lynne Tillman (born January 1, 1947) is a novelist, short story writer, and cultural critic. She is currently Professor/Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English at the University at Albany and teaches at the School of Visual Arts' Art Cri ...

Controversy

Badlands Unlimited's participation in the 2010

as the event's first publisher primarily focused on e-book publication ignited debate over whether the rise of e-books would mean the destruction of traditional paperback publications.

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

temporarily removed How to Download a Boyfriend from its e-book store citing concerns over nudity in the book. The item has since been made available for purchase again.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * *
"Books in an Expanded Field: The Story of Badlands Unlimited."
Matthew Erickson. LA Review of Books. Badlands Unlimited. February 8, 2013. {{Authority control Publishing companies established in 2010