twee whistler
twee whistler was a tumblr dedicated to posting fanart celebrating artist Jon Rafman.
I often find myself analyzing fan communities; I am fascinated by how their social hierarchy is based on knowledge rather than economic power or by how their productivity is capable of overcoming and stratifying above that of the original product. I was wondering what it would mean to place in the same economic system fan art that was, in turn, the same product (an artwork) offered by another artist. Besides questioning the meaning of authorship, quotationism, copyright, production and post-production I want to play on the limits of privacy and emotional attachment in a fan vs celebrity dimension. I have therefore developed a complex fan-fiction where I am the girlfriend of an esteemed artist, Jon Rafman, who now becomes a meme, now a “senpai” (a name often used in manga by shy girls referring to a boy, perhaps barely known, which they have fallen in love with), now a sort of contemporary art Justin Bieber.