A LODESTAR THAT RADIATES WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

FOR ARTFORUM’S SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY, the magazine invited a group of esteemed contributors—artists and writers who are essential to the magazine’s lifeblood—to respond to a simple prompt:

We all have those things that stick with us, works or words that feel in some way out of time, lodestars that radiate even (or especially) when the lights go out. We ask that you choose one of those things—preferably an artwork or special text—and tell us about your first or most vivid experience with it.

Following the shrewd principle of first-thought/best-thought, we encouraged them to keep it quick and dirty. Here’s what they had to say.