Emma Brasó

The ever-expanding art world is immersed in a conflict between “form and content.” Made up of numerous institutions, this growing network of universities, art centres, biennials, galleries, art fairs, magazines, publishers, online platforms, etc., relies on what many describe as the systems most fragile node: the artist. Surviving as an artist outside of the institutionalized art world is today almost impossible, while living within it brings about a series of almost contradictory demands: to be critical, yet economically successful, to question authorship, yet maintain it, to reject capitalism, yet work according to its norms.

 The emergence of what in this thesis I describe as parafictional artists is, in my view, a response to such peculiar scenario. The strategy of creating a fictional artist yet making her function as an author dramatically challenges some of the art world expectations about how artists must perform. It also generates productive controversies and ethical dilemmas amongst interpreters, including art historians and curators, as well as the public. Yet, the decision to explore artistic identity in such fictional ways ultimately provides artists with tools to retain control over how their name and work functions within the institutionalized art world. 

In this research project, I try to respond to the following questions: How does the extended practice of developing and exhibiting parafictional artists reflect as well as modify the ways in which contemporary authorship functions in today’s highly institutionalized, mostly global, art world? What are the consequences of the introduction of these parafictional authorial strategies for the interpretation, presentation, and encounter with art?