Discipline & ANARCHY: Cristiano Grim

Cristiano Grim is an Italo-American artist, poet, photographer, producer, publisher, DJ, and intellectual whose work spans performance, literature, music, and the independent cultural underground. A classically trained economist and marketing strategist with a radical artistic vision, Grim operates at the intersection of academic precision and street-level experimentation.

Grim’s artistic and intellectual practice is grounded in the study of dystopia and utopia, gentrification, platform-induced emotion, love and hate, perversion and the degeneration of behavior in capitalist society, and the obsessive logic of consumption. These themes inform a body of work that investigates the failure of language, emotional thresholds, religious aesthetics, DIY methodology, and the role of grief, anxiety, and memory in contemporary expression.

Since moving to New York in 2013, Grim has remained central to the city’s independent arts landscape. He founded Immigrant Radio in the basement of Bella Ciao—a historic Little Italy venue—as a free-form music broadcast and legal aid platform for undocumented migrants. In 2022, Grim founded XPIZZA, an independent venue in the South Street Seaport where he curated and produced over 2,500 free shows, establishing it as a vital hub in New York’s underground music and art scenes.

Grim is also the founder of FAKE, a limited-edition publishing imprint focused on poetry, photography, and music. Its four issues—The Absence, 120America, Florida Untitled, and Mask vs Persona—are distributed by Printed Matter (USA) and Sound Metaphors (EU).

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WHY DO YOU DO IT? WHAT DRIVES YOU?

I’m nobody
I’m doing nothing
I’m done
I’m said
I’m spoken 
I’m Driven 
I’m absent
I’m gone
I’m wasted 
I’m what I’m not 

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DO FOR SANITY MAINTENANCE?

What sanity? When asked why he wrote, Cioran answered: “Out of necessity. To avoid shouting or screaming. Writing is an encounter with God. However, I’m not a believer”. Me neither.

WHAT IS THE SCRAPPIEST THING YOU’VE DONE TO MAKE OR SAVE $$?

I stole communion wafers from a church and sold them to a satanist. Made enough to buy myself a brand new soul. 

YOUR TASK IS TO PRESCRIBE ONE BOOK OR FILM TO THE COLLECTIVE. WHAT IS IT?

FILM: SALÒ, or the 120 DAYS OF SODOM by Pier Paolo Pasolini

BOOK: IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS by Peter Ouspensky

Current obsession?

Real Estate Open Houses.

I'm not looking for a home. I just like to dress sharp, walk through properties, chat with brokers (God, brokers are dark!), watch young couples — potential buyers daydreaming about marbled kitchen islands, piss in luxury bathrooms, read abnormal brochures, ask questions about maintenance. Getting deeper into that community, you know? Lately, I’m into Kips Bay boutique condos. Had a wild winter in Bowery lofts. Almost fell in love: heart broker.

MOST USEFUL FAILURE?

I failed to mention my parents when I won the Oscar Award: I’m an orphan.  

SELECTED Q FROM THE PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE: WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU HAPPIEST?

Fuck Proust ! I’m a Gide’s boy.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

My zine/compilation FAKE4: MASK VS PERSONA is coming out in June, featuring works by Parker Day, Bráulio Amado, Valley Latini, Foie Gras, David Rose,Nick Hadad, and Machino.

My first poetry book WASTED with a foreword by Richard Cabut and illustrations by Martin Groch is coming out in September. I’m  publishing Tea Hacic-Vlahovic's first poetry book, too. I’m gonna shoot the cover. Can’t wait!

What else...Yes, I’m shocking audiences around the world on stage with my style, vile ! This new reading is strong. Greg Fox is playing drums on it !

I've got a couple of monographs coming up with my friends Andi80s and Sunshine.

The XPIZZA memoir book is still on track, even though the designer ran off with the money to backpack across the country. (No jokes.) I don’t blame that dude. Wherever you are right now, deep in the woods, do me a favor, take that cock out of your mouth, look up at the stars, and hear me out: I forgive you! Alright, go on. Continue the sucking.

DISCIPLINE OR ANARCHY?

Quoting myself: “Lying in my cage I’m gonna cry for the wasted time, when I obeyed.” 

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Check out fake4—Mask vs persona

FAKE4—MASK VS PERSONA explores identity, performance, and the fragmentation of self.

It features a standout work by iconic Los Angeles photographer Parker Day, whose hyper-saturated portraits dissect the construction of persona and the tension between surface and essence.

Flyer design by drew litowitz.

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DISCIPLINE & ANARCHY is aN ONGOING interview series featuring underrated artists and writers of scrap and substance.