Fictioning: The Myth-Functions of Contemporary Art and Philosophy

by David Burrows, Simon O'Sullivan

Fictioning in art is an open-ended, experimental practice that involves performing, diagramming or assembling to create or anticipate that which does not exist. In this extensively illustrated book containing over 80 diagrams and images of artworks, David Burrows and Simon O’Sullivan explore the technics of fictioning through three focal mythopoesis, myth-science and mythotechnesis. These relate to three specific modes of performance fictioning, science fictioning and machine fictioning. In this way, Burrows and O’Sullivan explore how fictioning can offer us alternatives to the dominant fictions that construct our reality in an age of ‘post-truth’ and ‘perception management’. Through fictioning, they look forward to the new kinds of human, part-human and non-human bodies and societies to come.

Genres: Philosophy, Art, Nonfiction

576 pages, Paperback

Published February 10, 2019

Reviews

[Aleksander · Rating 2 out of 5]

I doubt I'll finish this book. The first chapter on mythopoesis is excellent, especially the in-depth exploration of Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy and the discussion of neomedievalism, which I found fascinating. However, after that, the book starts to lose focus. It feels like the authors gradually drift away from their central ideas, and by the end, the point they're trying to make becomes completely unclear.

While I understand that fictioning is meant to be a fluid, hard-to-define concept, the book doesn't make it any easier to grasp. Instead of offering a coherent explanation, it gets bogged down in constant analysis of different cultural texts, many of which are heavily America-centric. As a European, I couldn't relate to or even understand some of these references.

After about 190 pages, the book seems to fall apart, turning into a confusing, disjointed analysis of cultural texts. The writing becomes increasingly convoluted, with long, spiraling sentences that bury any meaningful points. Rather than feeling enlightened, I ended up feeling tired and alienated, like I was being led through a maze with no clear destination.

You are better of just reading DNG, Gunther Anders, Jung or Eric Vogelin and thinking on your own than reading this.