He’s worked in gas stations, run a record label, was a partner at a design agency, and did a stint in law school before deciding he did not want a life of conflict. After traveling 50,000 miles along the back roads of America, his first book, The Road to Somewhere: An American Memoir, was published by W. W. Norton. His second book, The Manufactured History of Indianapolis, is a collection of myths about the city.
His stories have appeared in Vol. 1 Brooklyn and Heavy Feather Review, and his work has been exhibited in the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Rubin Museum of Art, the Mint Museum, and Annenberg Space for Photography. He often collaborates with the artist Candy Chang on installations that introduce new rituals into public space, including After the End, a critic’s pick in The New York Times.
James has taught courses in the history of art and the politics of design at Bard Early College, Pratt Institute, and Parsons School of Design, where he is an assistant professor. He was a 2022 Innovator-in-Residence at the American School in London, and he is the founder and creative director of Design/Context.
He's lived and worked in New York City, Helsinki, Philadelphia, Lisbon, New Orleans, London, and Las Vegas before settling in Columbus, Ohio, where he lives down the hall from his in-laws.
