Welcome to the ‘Wasteland’: A queer ‘sex memoir’ that throws out all the rules in written word and art

One of the joys of collaborating is when a project becomes more than the sum of its partners, and Scooter LaForge and Jason Haaf’s book “Wasteland” is a perfect example.

The project began when LaForge found Haaf’s book “Harsh Cravings” in the Strand and bought it because he liked the cover.

“It was a 90-day diary that I wrote in 2020," Haaf explains. “You can call it a sex memoir, but it's really just kind of observing, not only my past, but what was going on during that time."

“I read the book cover to cover, and I wrote to him on Instagram and I told him how much I loved it," adds LaForge.

Haaf wrote back and pretty quickly they had decided to collaborate on an art project, but it wasn’t initially conceived as a book. 

“He would send me 20 pages of handwritten poetry, diary entries, things that happened in his life, just writings and passages, and I would read them. And it was on beautiful watercolor paper that was handwritten," says LaForge. “And then I would make a painting right on top of those handwritten words and send them back." [caption id="attachment_137842206" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Scooter LaForge and Jason Haaf signing copies of their book "Wasteland" at the book launch at the Howl! Archive galleryPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842207" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Jason Haaf adds his signature to his book "Wasteland"Photo by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842209" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The artwork of Scooter LaForge and Jason Haaf from the book "Wasteland" on sale at the Howl! galleryPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842210" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The artwork of Scooter LaForge and Jason Haaf from the book "Wasteland" on sale at the Howl! galleryPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption]

Haaf notes that “Scooter works really quickly, and I was getting so much material back, and it was so varied. I would get paintings back that I wasn't expecting. Once we hit over 50 pages, that's when I was like, okay, this deserves to be its own thing outside of anything else."

What it became is a collage of feelings, desires, self-examination, hopes, sex, angst, connections, homoerotica, regrets, ecstasy and anger and much more."

"I would say that it's about the queer experience," muses Haaf. “The nuances of relationships, not only with other people, but I think within yourself as well. Whether you're gay or straight, we can all relate to that."

LaForge left the layout mostly to Haaf, who “storyboarded the images in a thousand different ways” before he found what worked best. LaForge would check out the progress and give his input along the way. Haaf’s husband, Kyle Anderson, handled the layout and the publishing with his Doable Guys imprint.

“That way," says Haaf, “we kept it in the family."

LaForge found the whole experience to be “exhilarating and very inspiring because I had never done anything like this before. So it was challenging and very free. I didn’t want to be too pristine or too perfect, so there was a lot of real free art making - no limits or boundaries. And it came from both sides. I think that's why the book is really successful, because we didn't limit each other”. 

He notes that the process calls to mind the surrealists’ exercise that was called cadavre exquis (Exquisite Corpse), in which different artists collaborated on an artwork.  

“It was ‘do whatever you want,'" LaForge says. "You can cover the whole writing. You can change around the writing. You can paint on it partially. You can add your own writing, cross out my writing. And then when I send it back to him, on my paintings, he could add to the paintings, cover the paintings. Crossing out and do another painting, just go over it, do another painting on top of that painting. So there's layers and layers and layers and layers of work there on top of each other's work." [caption id="attachment_137842217" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Scooter LaForge, seated, meeting some fansPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842216" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Scooter LaForge chatting with local artist/musician Alex CarpenterPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842215" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] L-R: Lourdes Miller, Samantha Hepburn, Jason Haaf, Clive KuoPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842214" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Scooter LaForge with artist Darian BrennerPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842212" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Jason Haaf with James Patrick NelsonPhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption] [caption id="attachment_137842211" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Writer James Metzger with Scooter LaForgePhoto by Bob Krasner[/caption]

When it came to LaForge’s artistic interpretation of Haaf’s words, “there was no wrong answer," Haaf clarifies.

“Scooter's interpretation is completely his and  I never saw something and thought, oh no, he got it wrong, because there is no wrong." And, Haaf adds, “I think what we weren't quite expecting was how you could just flip to any page and it has its own meaning and all of these words and images, the paintings, they all connect to each other, but they all also survive on their own."

The individual paintings are available for sale, at very reasonable prices, whenever they do a reading, and you can contact them on Instagram if there is a specific one that interests you.

Haaf gave a lot of thought to the ending, which had three distinct options: “One of them, I thought, was a little too optimistic for me. And then one of them just seemed really dark and kind of dire and I didn't really want to end it on that. The one that we landed on I thought could go either way.  It could be interpreted as a good thing; it could be interpreted as a bad thing. So once I saw that nuance, then I knew that we were done."

Susan Ottaviano, the lead singer in the Book of Love, is a fan of the book: “I was utterly blown away by the collaboration between Jason and Scooter. The stream of consciousness present in both their writing and Scooter’s expressive and passionate paintings create an extraordinary experience! Sexy, edgy and intimate, their chemistry is truly palpable!”

Haaf has a wish for the book in the long run: “I would like someone to have it, have it sit with them for a while, or they could almost even forget that they have it, and I would like for them to be able to pick it up at any time and flip to any page and relate to it again and have it make someone feel better, or provoke thought."

Wasteland is available from doableguys.com/books. Follow them on Instagram at @scooterlaforge and @haafwit. The next reading will be at Hive Mind Books, 219 Irving Ave., Bushwick, on April 14, at 7 p.m.