The Fugees’ “The Score” as an example of Reconstructivist Art The landmark sophomore album that introduced the Fugees to a worldwide audience, and transformed many people’s conception of hip-hop. Nod to Artifice: The album was conceived as the soundtrack to a fictional movie (a theme explored in the music videos), and is introduced theatrically (“Columbia/Ruffhouse [...]
For many people, the main appeal of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” movies is the “Jedi Way,” the philosophy/religion that guides the mystical Jedi knights. But where does this philosophy come from, and does it hold up under scrutiny?
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band as an example of Reconstructivist Art This ground-breaking work of psychedelic sound is considered by many to be “the best album ever released.” Nod to Artifice: The album is introduced through its first song as a concert being given by the fictional band of the title. In [...]
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Tailsteak’s webcomic “1/0” as an example of Reconstructivist Art 1/0 was an unusual webcomic that ran for exactly 1000 strips, and that revolved around the often contentious relationship between the comic’s creator and his characters. Nod to Artifice: In 1/0, the strip’s creator is a very real presence within the strip, and his changing relationship [...]
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Wyclef Jean’s “Mona Lisa” (from The Carnival) as an example of Reconstructivist Art Hip-hop impresario Wyclef Jean reinvented one of his earlier hits as this sentimental ballad from his multiplatinum album “Wyclef Presents the Carnival.” Nod to Artifice: Wyclef comments (hip-hop style) over the lyrics with self-referential comments such as “I never wrote a love [...]
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
William Goldman’s “Princess Bride” as an example of Reconstructivist Art Popular screenwriter and novelist William Goldman produced two beloved versions of his modern “classic,” which was one of the first true reconstructivist artworks. Nod to Artifice: Goldman appears frequently in the original novel, putatively as its “abridger.” In the movie, Goldman’s presence is replaced by [...]
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” as an example of Reconstructivist Art Experimental cartoonist Art Spiegelman shocked both his underground fan base and mainstream America with his emotional portrait of his parent’s lives during the Holocaust told in graphic-novel (comic-book) format. Reconstructivist Elements: Nod to Artifice: Spiegelman appears as a character in the book(s) and comments on his [...]
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Julie Taymor’s “Lion King” as an example of Reconstructivist Art Experimental theater veteran Julie Taymor put together this commercial and critical smash hit musical-theater adaptation of a Disney movie. Reconstructivist Elements: Nod to Artifice: The show features fully visible puppeteers, and actors whose faces show beneath their animal masks, as well as an unashamedly theatrical [...]
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
R. Stevens’ “Diesel Sweeties” as an example of Reconstructivist Art Diesel Sweeties is a subversive and deceptively simple web-based comic strip depicting the lives, passions and tangled love affairs of a motley group of humans, robots, pets and inanimate objects. Reconstructivist Elements: Nod to Artifice: In Diesel Sweeties, the stylized pixelation of the artwork highlights [...]
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Michael Ende’s “The Neverending Story” as an example of Reconstructivist Art Michael Ende’s international bestseller found an audience among children and adults alike, and should not be confused with the more juvenile movie adaptation. While the movie faithfully reproduced the conventional fairy tale that takes up the first half of the book, it ignored the [...]
Monday, December 20, 2004
"Kierkegaard's Narrative" is an existential humanist plot outline named after the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. In general, it runs as follows: An aimless young man drifts through life, obsessed with aesthetics, and seeking sexual fulfillment with a series of women, yet never making substantive choices or real commitments. The climax of the story is the protagonist's decision to commit to a single woman, and to enter into marriage.
The raw source material for this plotline is found in Kierkegaard's books "Either/Or," "Fear and Trembling," and "Repetition," in which he takes on the persona of various first-person narrators, and describes their experiences.
Friday, December 10, 2004
to reawaken a sense of the Real in a world where everything has been demonstrated to be an illusion