During the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists are feeling out of their element in their creative practices. Joe’s Pub is supporting joyful, collaborative work by offering micro-commissions to 8 duos of artists/performers who have never worked together before. This piece - by Julia Kim Smith and Isaac Oliver - is the result of one of these joyful, collaborative pairings. 

Artists were encouraged to tap any side of their creativity that is bringing them joy during this time, whether meant working in their normal medium or experimenting with something outside of their genre.

How to Kiss Again by Julia Kim Smith and Isaac Oliver will premiere on our YouTube channel and IGTV at noon ET on Thursday, August 12.

Julia Kim Smith is a multidisciplinary artist whose work has been featured by Angry Asian Man, Animal, Art F City, artnet News, GQ, Hypebeast, Hyperallergic, Juxtapoz, kottke.org, Ms., Paper Magazine, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and international media outlets. Her films have received premieres at Slamdance Film Festival, Cinequest Film Festival, Center For Asian American Media CAAMFest, San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, and Maryland Film Festival. Smith has exhibited nationally and internationally with new media and feminist artists.

Isaac Oliver is an award-winning playwright, author, and performer. His debut collection of essays, Intimacy Idiot, was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2015, and has been released in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audiobook. Additionally, he's a frequent contributor to The New York Times, and writes for HBO's "High Maintenance" and Netflix's "GLOW." Isaac is an alum of the Joe’s Pub Working Group.