Asher Hartman

Asher Hartman is a Lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design and a transgender visual artist, writer, and director. As founder of Gawdafful National Theater, he creates complex performances at the intersection of theater, performance art, and psychic practices, engaging with social/political issues through themes of chronic crisis, whiteness, and queer identity. Based in Los Angeles, his work has been supported by institutions like Machine Project and The Lab, with recent projects at the Centre Pompidou (2024) and JOAN (2023).

• Graduate of UCLA (Theater) and CalArts (Studio Art)
• Co-founder of performative duo Krystal Krunch (with Haruko Tanaka, deceased)

Research Interests center on:

• Psychic and intuitive practices in art
• Deconstructing whiteness and masculinity
• Nonlinear storytelling and audience disruption
• Installation-based emotional elicitation

Notable Article Trends (2014–2024) include collaborations with LACMA, Hammer Museum, and Yale Union, exploring themes like:

• Cultural violence and denial
• Occult symbolism in political contexts
• Post-pandemic performance adaptation
• Folkloric critique of American identity

Teaching Affiliations span:

• Otis College of Art and Design
• CalArts
• UC Riverside
• Ox-Bow School of Arts