In its latest installment, a launch party for Madeline Cash's collection of short stories, "Earth Angel," readers stood on a roof-like terrace above attentive listeners, sharing journal passages, short stories, and anecdotal recollections — illuminated by the light of their iPhones. "The focus of the series is to take readings out of traditional contexts and test the limits of the literary paradigm. I typically select artists who work in different mediums to read alongside more obscure writers because that's where subversion lies." the LA native notes.
What began in a Pollo a la Brasa parking lot, due to being thrown out of Johnson's studio apartment prior, Factory Made's first reading was a testament to the urgency of establishing space for writers or anyone who has something to say, though surpassing the means available. Since its inception, the reading series has blurred the line between afterparty and reading circle, where a story about office banter or capitalistic exhaustion meets the blare of a DJ speaker. This underground disposition makes sense for the bodies in attendance, where sleaze is in and clean-cut is a faux pas. "My reading series–Factory Made–is a cross-genre pollination of dyslexic debutantes, transgressive twinks, ketafiend starlets, and the like," Johnson explains.