ADW: Define culture, perpetuate it.
SCV: A noble cause. No interviews with Paris Hilton? Is Paris Hilton an aesthete?
ADW: She wears pretty jewelry.
SCV: Annie, what is it to be American? I’m curious, I see a big flag in the other room. What does it all mean, is it about patriotism?
ADW: It’s about questioning patriotsim, about having dialogue, and fostering an engagement of ideas, and new voices.
SCV: Finally, are you a hipster?
ADW: Does that mean having to be ironic all the time?
SCV: On occasion.
ADW: I kind of prefer aesthete.
SCV: I thought so. A pleasure Ms De Witt. By the way am I allowed to take the magazine out of the seal you so thoughtfully bound and put the magazines in?
ADW: On the condition you read it.
SCV: Assuming there’s a modicum of irony…
With readings from Deb Olin Unferth, Sasha Fletcher, Stephen O’connor and Brian Beatty a dance performance by Lydia Bell, it was a rather pleasant evening, and this dilettante is betting that we’ll probably be hearing more from Gigantic going forward, or at least he hopes so…
For the editorial record, I was not in NYC to read at the Gigantic launch. My tiny story was presented by friend and fellow writer Mike Topp.