Fanart as craft and the creation of culture

Abstract

A study reveals how young people from nineteen countries have begun to manipulate media conveyed narratives of popular culture in ways that may be construed as culture creation. Through intense engagements as fans of commercially produced images and stories, adolescents and young adults may craft fanart illustrations as images of self. As they learn art making within the global fandom, or Internet-connected community of like-interested fans and fanartists, these young people enact relationships to the subject and process of fanart making, fellow fanartists and the fan community that are not unlike those of the medieval European craftsman to his craft, guild workshop and community. Appreciation of local and global aesthetics is quickened, and a desire to develop a high level of skill is inspired. Knowledge, skill, and aesthetic appreciation, however, do not necessarily lead fanartists to desire art-related careers. Rather, many fanartists are satisfied to experience fanart making as internalized affirmations of communal self. These findings suggest art teachers should encourage practices that permit students to explore personally relevant content, such as may be found in popular narratives, and enter into interactions that reiterate those between craftsman and media, process, and community.

Fan studies pedagogies

“…[5.8] Chen's study provides groundwork for critical use of fan art within art education, but the study lacks diversity because of its small number of participants, all of whom are female and Taiwanese. A later study, conducted by Marjorie Cohee Manifold (2009), has a larger participant pool of 69 subjects, although the majority were also female. In the resulting article, "Fanart as Craft and the Creation of Culture," Manifold found that most fan artists began their artistic practice out of a desire to connect to a specific character.…”

Unblurring the boundary between daily life and gameplay in location-based mobile games, visual online ethnography on Pokémon GO

“…Arts and Crafts (18.7%) was the most common clearly defined activity observed in the images. Fan art of such a popular game can be expected (Manifold 2009). The players go as far as placing their sculptures on a street walk and capturing a photo of it as if it were AR view from the game (Figure 1).…”

Parasocial Media Effects

“…Бажана ідентифікація -результат прагнення бути схожим на персонажа (Lonial & Van Auken, 1986). Даний ефект у дітей молодшого і середнього шкільного віку стає важливим попередником соціального навчання та моделювання (Bandura, 1969) оскільки вони бачать бажані риси в персонажах, якими вони хотіли "володіти", або наслідувати (Manifold, 2009). Таким чином, медігерой може виступати елемен- Communication Research, 3, 347-366.…”