The Image of Self: Parafictional Identities in the Digital Sphere

Recently, a renewed interest in identity politics has been proliferating in the international art discourse, following inflamed debates around cases of what is considered to be cultural appropriation. In light of this backdrop, the paper will introduce the current phenomena of creating parafictional identities as artworks, and the way these take form in the digital space of the internet. Parafiction art is defined as artistic fictions that are grounded in reality and are experienced by their spectators as facts (Carrie Lambert-Beatty, 2009). Within this genre, the invention of fictive personas bares a long tradition, from the literary use of pseudonyms to the fabrication of imaginary artists.

While parafictional figures are unique in the way they are embedded within reality, the paper will examine specifically the implications of their online existence. This will be done through the introduction of specific case studies: the media artworks of Italian dou Franco and Eva Mattes, who attributed made-up works to famous artists as well as invented a parafictional Serbian artist who gained international recognition; the appropriation works of British artist Roisin Byrne; and the inclusion of Joe Scanlan as fictional Afro-American female artist Donelle Woolford at the 2014 Whitney Biennial, which has taken interesting twists and turns in the online discourse.

At a time of social networks, selfies and virtual presence, in which identities are carefully curated and endlessly edited thus becoming an aesthetic image, these artworks bare critical implications on subjects such as cultural appropriation, artistic agency and capitalist market value.