Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality

Since 1837, there has been an increasing number of public art installations in Britain that simultaneously commemorate fiction and reality, be they officially or unofficially produced. The official examples intentionally commemorate fictional works, so as to simultaneously commemorate real people or...

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Main Author: Holloway, Johan
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78485/
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author Holloway, Johan
author_facet Holloway, Johan
author_sort Holloway, Johan
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Since 1837, there has been an increasing number of public art installations in Britain that simultaneously commemorate fiction and reality, be they officially or unofficially produced. The official examples intentionally commemorate fictional works, so as to simultaneously commemorate real people or places that are relevant to those works. Official examples have commemorated fictional stories and characters to celebrate: the authors of those works; the places where those authors are from, or where they created their represented works; the places where those works were produced; or the cultural output of Britain as a whole. The unofficial examples, however, intentionally appropriate public spaces to specifically commemorate fictional characters that are relevant to those spaces. Such unofficial examples subsequently endure if the official owner of the appropriated site allows the inadvertent commemoration of their site to persist. This research examines the commemorative dichotomy of simultaneously celebrating fiction and reality, predominantly from an art historical perspective, with visual analyses of each artwork driving the overall research. In addition to art history, this research engages with ideas from both adaptation and fan studies to support its analysis of those artworks. The overall conclusion of this research is that while fiction and reality can be simultaneously commemorated with public artworks that represent fictional subjects, the results can ostensibly appear to only commemorate fiction.
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spelling nottingham-784852024-12-10T04:40:03Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78485/ Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality Holloway, Johan Since 1837, there has been an increasing number of public art installations in Britain that simultaneously commemorate fiction and reality, be they officially or unofficially produced. The official examples intentionally commemorate fictional works, so as to simultaneously commemorate real people or places that are relevant to those works. Official examples have commemorated fictional stories and characters to celebrate: the authors of those works; the places where those authors are from, or where they created their represented works; the places where those works were produced; or the cultural output of Britain as a whole. The unofficial examples, however, intentionally appropriate public spaces to specifically commemorate fictional characters that are relevant to those spaces. Such unofficial examples subsequently endure if the official owner of the appropriated site allows the inadvertent commemoration of their site to persist. This research examines the commemorative dichotomy of simultaneously celebrating fiction and reality, predominantly from an art historical perspective, with visual analyses of each artwork driving the overall research. In addition to art history, this research engages with ideas from both adaptation and fan studies to support its analysis of those artworks. The overall conclusion of this research is that while fiction and reality can be simultaneously commemorated with public artworks that represent fictional subjects, the results can ostensibly appear to only commemorate fiction. 2024-12-10 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78485/1/Holloway%2C%20Johan%2C%2020182395%2C%20Final.pdf Holloway, Johan (2024) Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality. MRes thesis, University of Nottingham. Public Art; Fiction; Reality; Commemoration
spellingShingle Public Art; Fiction; Reality; Commemoration
Holloway, Johan
Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality
title Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality
title_full Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality
title_fullStr Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality
title_full_unstemmed Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality
title_short Public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality
title_sort public art and fictional works: simultaneously commemorating fiction and reality
topic Public Art; Fiction; Reality; Commemoration
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78485/