Released in late Februrary, Wasteland, published by Doable Guys, is the new novel by Jason Haaf and Scooter LaForge. Through a combination of painting, prose, poetry and collage, the authors examine a queer issues explore intense queer emotions.
From Doable:
Wasteland, an art novel by Jason Haaf and Scooter LaForge, is a place you can sink into or try to leave. It is a time when you fell into lust and became glued; it can be a trap or an escape. Combining painting, prose, poetry and collage, authors Haaf and LaForge explore queer intimacy, anger and angst. From relationships to repetitions, Wasteland is an open invitation into a collaborative psyche.
The book stemmed from a simple observation by Haaf.
“Earlier this year I was working at the Strand bookstore and my book, Harsh Cravings, was stacked on the LGBTQ table. It was a Sunday and there was one copy left. By the time I left for the night, I noticed that it was gone. I posted a story on Instagram that we ran out of copies but we’d restock soon. I received a message from Scooter LaForge and he said he bought the last one.”
That led to this collaboration that began with watercolor paper, ink and pen as well as old journals that spoke to Haaf’s vision.
“When I transcribed them onto the watercolor paper, I channeled the emotions I felt at the time those words were written. When I handed off the pages to Scooter, the aim was to discover a response. Nothing planned, nothing predetermined. And when he returned the pages, surrounded by his art, it didn’t change the meaning of my words, instead, it added a light and an energy to them, another pulse. Sometimes, I would give a response back, adding paint and pastels to his creation. And sometimes, I would write more words, over his art. This was the kind of collaboration I was looking for,” Haaf said in his artist’s statement.
What started as a simple search for a queer book, LaForge found a collaborative experience mixing prose and art with a queer sensibility.
“We met in a café, and from the first conversation, something charged passed between us—creative, emotional, hard to name,” LaForge stated. “The work poured out of me. It felt like opening a vein in the best way.”
He continued, “This project is unlike anything I’ve ever done, and I’m proud of what came out of us. The book feels alive, touched by a real kind of magic—the kind that only shows up when two people meet at exactly the right moment and say ‘yes.’”
LaForge is a New York–based artist who creates contemporary works across painting, sculpture and drawing, marked by unorthodox techniques and imagery. His work has been exhibited at the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York, the Friedrichshof Museum in Vienna, and the Spritmuseum/Absolut Art Collection in Stockholm. A feature-length documentary, Scooter LaForge: A Life of Art by director Ethan Minsker, was released in 2023, and a 30-year survey of his paintings opened at Lesley University College of Art and Design in 2024.
He also designs bespoke clothing sold through Patricia Field’s ArtFashion Gallery which have been worn by Madonna, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, and Debbie Harry, and his costume design has been part of Emmy-nominated and Tony-nominated work.
Haaf is a Brooklyn-based writer and visual artist influenced by diaristic writings and memoir. His debut novel, Harsh Cravings (Polari Press, 2022) is a 90-day diary taking place during the summer and fall of 2020. Can I See Your Niche?, featuring Haaf’s cut-ups and collages is published by Trapart Books, 2023. Watchword, a collaborative unbound art book, featuring prose and collage was published by @ND in 2023. Haaf was a recipient of the Seattle Erotic Art Fair’s Foundation Award for Literary Art (2025).
The book is available for purchase here.
–Rich Lopez