VICE: So, let’s start out with some basics. Why did you write this book in English?
Christina Hagen: Because I wanted an inept tone to it. I’m not a native English speaker so it seemed an organic way to achieve that, using a non-language. It’s meant to come across as fluffy and empty, devoid of any lyrical and emotional value. Also I like the idea of it being accessible to everyone.
There are a lot of pictures, half a book’s worth. How come?
Well, people often discuss what degree of my work is factual and how much is fiction. I guess, I just liked having these pictures as a sort of irrefutable truth. But it’s a scam, right? Pictures can lie as well.
Yes, if I understand correctly, the guy cast as Boyfrind is a model, right?
Yes, but this is where it gets a little hairy, because he’s actually a former lover of mine, too. So it’s not all that straightforward.
Oi vey, don’t you confuse yourself some of the time?
Yeah, but it’s all just fiction, isn’t it? I mean, that’s how I feel a lot of the time.
Ok, now you just sound nuts. Let’s change the subject. Who is boyfrind?
He’s an amalgamation of stories I’ve heard from different women mixed with my own relationship experiences. I used all sorts of inspiration like radio shows and tacky TV soaps. It’s very inspired by that whole American take on dating and relationships that you would find in, say, Beverly Hills 90210. I love that shit. I’ve really sponged up all the cliches. But at the same time I’ve also taken in a lot from a mentally ill girlfriend. She is psychotic and keeps falling obsessively in love with different men, and then she blurts it all out on Facebook before it inevitably goes wrong. It’s that kind of twilight zone where you start to feel a little bit uncomfortable, yet you can’t not look.
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