THE WILL TO MEANING (2004 - 2008)
The term "fan" commonly connotes an individual with an excessive degree of interest in a trivial subject. The stereotype of the socially awkward, emotionally-stunted geek who has lost his grip on reality is perpetuated in the media and through oral tradition. But I propose a different definition.
Fandom is the practice of participatory engagement with a cultural object, text, or concept. It involves engagement on one or more of the following levels of being: emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual. It often begins as an isolated practice that evolves into a community-based one. Even in a community centered around a single cultural text or concept, members are not members for the same reasons. Nor do they make the same meanings out of the text or object that began it all.
In this series of digital prints I have collected banners, icons, avatars, and other web imagery that represent various online fandoms. The large-scale prints document the aesthetics and the extent of virtual communities in real space, while questioning the ethics of appropriation.
