CFP: Materiality and Object-Oriented Fandom
Via Bob Rehak:
This special issue seeks historically and theoretically informed essays that explore the role of objects and their associated practices in fandom, as instances of creativity and consumerism, transformation and affirmation, private archive and public display. We are particularly interested in work that complicates or transcends the binaries of social vs. solitary, artwork vs. commodity, and gift vs. monetary economies to engage with object-oriented fandom as self-aware and playful in its own right.
We welcome submissions dealing with, but not limited to, the following topics:
Call for Papers
Materiality and Object-Oriented Fandom (March 2014)
A special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures on objects and artifacts in media fandom.
Alongside its consumption and transformation of texts, media fandom has always been marked by its consumption and transformation of objects. From superhero figures, model kits, and wargaming miniatures for sale at hobby shops, to costumes and props worn at Comic-Con, material objects and body decoration have functioned as displays of textual affiliation, crafting skills, or collecting prowess, reflecting a long history of fan-created and -circulated artifacts around popular media fictions.
Alongside its consumption and transformation of texts, media fandom has always been marked by its consumption and transformation of objects. From superhero figures, model kits, and wargaming miniatures for sale at hobby shops, to costumes and props worn at Comic-Con, material objects and body decoration have functioned as displays of textual affiliation, crafting skills, or collecting prowess, reflecting a long history of fan-created and -circulated artifacts around popular media fictions.
This special issue seeks historically and theoretically informed essays that explore the role of objects and their associated practices in fandom, as instances of creativity and consumerism, transformation and affirmation, private archive and public display. We are particularly interested in work that complicates or transcends the binaries of social vs. solitary, artwork vs. commodity, and gift vs. monetary economies to engage with object-oriented fandom as self-aware and playful in its own right.
We welcome submissions dealing with, but not limited to, the following topics:
- creating and collecting, buying and selling fan artifacts (production artifacts, memorabilia, reference materials, models, material fan art, and fan crafts…)
- cosplay (creating costumes and other artifacts, performing cosplay, competitions…)
- fan enactments, events, and embodiment (Renaissance Fairs, Quidditch competitions, re-enactments, fannish tattoos…)
- fan objects as paratext and transmedia extension
- dissemination of skills and abilities (workshops, online blogs, fan meetings…)
- object marketplaces (con, comic-book store, ebay, etsy…)
- evaluation and valuation of artifacts across the various economies of fandom
- impact of digital technologies (including social networking and 3D printing) on object creation, collecting, and cataloging
- new debates over authorship, ownership, and control
Contributions by March 1, 2013 or April 1, 2013, depending on submission type. Full CFP and submission guidelines available at Graphic Engine.
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