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Wayne Propst, artist and writer
Recent work: Experiments with art and a sledgehammer. Favorite Burroughs work: Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader. Wayne Propst uses words like “teacher” and “master”—in the sense of master writer and artist—when talking about his friendship with Burroughs. One of the master’s most memorable lessons—to question rules and rulemakers—remains relevant today, Propst says. “We live in a very conforming society,” he says. “It takes so little to get people in a dither.” The concept of questioning the status quo is evident in Propst’s artwork, which covers a range of sculpture, painting, writing and performance pieces. Recently, he’s designed a performance project that culminates with eight people wielding sledgehammers to produce a painting in five seconds or less. Burroughs’ work frequently challenged conventions and drew condemnation and criticism from society as a result. “There’s a huge disconnect with a culture that one moment thinks it’s open-minded and yet it’s very, very tight,” Propst says. When his work came under fire for being “obscene,” Burroughs often countered with comparisons to what he considered the obscenities of military operations. “Bill Burroughs made lots of observations about this sort of thing,” Propst says. “These are not red herrings. These are realistic comparisons.”