Hysterical Literature is a video art series by NYC-based photographer and filmmaker Clayton Cubitt. It explores feminism, mind/body dualism, distraction portraiture, and the contrast between culture and sexuality. (It’s also just really fun to watch.)
Launched in August of 2012, the video series has been watched over 90 million times in 200 countries.
With a total of 12 sessions and 12 different performers, each session is a must-watch from the beginning to the end.
Session One: Stoya reads “Necrophilia Variations” by Supervert.
Session Two: Alicia reads “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman.
Session Three: Danielle reads “Still Life With Woodpecker” by Tom Robbins.
Session Four: Stormy reads “American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis.
Session Five: Teresa reads “Sexing the Cherry” by Jeanette Winterson.
Session Six: Solé reads “Beloved” by Toni Morrison.
Session Seven: Amanda reads “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess.
Session Eight: Margaret reads “Sleeping Beauty” by A.N. Roquelaure
Session Nine: Marne reads “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror” by John Ashbery
Session Ten: Janet reads “Friendship and Character” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Session Eleven: Toni reads “The Portrait of a Lady” by Henry James
Session Twelve: Fette reads “The Loser” by Thomas Bernhard
