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#TheImaginary20thCentury

Written by Norman M. Klein in collaboration with Gilded Age historian Margo Bistis, The Imaginary 20th Century is the title of a historical comic novel that is available in print (2016) and as an e-book with a companion narrated media archive Read More..

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Hash title	The Imaginary 20th Century
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Description	Written by Norman M. Klein in collaboration with Gilded Age historian Margo Bistis, The Imaginary 20th Century is the title of a historical comic novel that is available in print (2016) and as an e-book with a companion narrated media archive (2014). This is the rare novel to have originated as an interactive installation that spawned related solo and group exhibitions prior to publication. What has evolved is a layered narrative that offers a literary alternative to gaming and other forms of media storytelling. In 2012, Klein, who coined the term “scripted space” in 1998, and Bistis coined "wunder-roman" to describe this alternative form. As described in the novel, this term references a mythical 19th-century version of the picaresque novel where the layers—as story—roll along a water wheel.Wunder-roman evokes the mental imagery of navigating the various components: the narrated media archive layered with sound or the comic historical novel with essays. Each component stands alone, but like the lyrics and music of an opera, they belong to each other. In the novel, the massive privately-held “Carrie’s archive” (1917-1936) contains 2000+ documents affixed to cards stored inside a circuitous room and mechanically accessible much like garments stored on dry-cleaner racks. Subscribers to the online package (the archive and ebook of novel) are granted access to these documents: “photographs, films, comic illustrations, scientific and medical imagery, industrial designs, architectural drawings and ephemera like postcards, stereocards, and maps” spanning 1885 to 1925.Margo Bistis. "Curating Carrie's Archive." The Imaginary 20th Century. Karlsruhe. ZKM/ Center for Art and Media. 2016. p. 169 The first documents, and the curatorial idea for The Imaginary 20th Century, evolved out of Bistis’ research for “Comic Art: The Paris Salon in Caricature,” a 2003 exhibition organized by the Getty Research Institute.Margo Bistis. "Curating Carrie's Archive." The Imaginary 20th Century. Karlsruhe. ZKM/Center for Art and Media. 2016. p. 167 Klein and Bistis started work on the project with support from California Institute of the Arts. Principal support came from the ZKM/Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, the co-producer of Klein’s award-winning media novel Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles, 1920-1986 (2003). Like Bleeding Through, The Imaginary 20th Century “is not a work of hypertext” but “reveals a more humanistic approach to database aesthetics….”Kim Beil. “The Imaginary 20th Century.”Artweek. Vol. 39:2 (March 2008). p 20 The first iteration of The Imaginary 20th Century interface was built by Andreas Kratky, Klein’s collaborator on Bleeding Through. It premiered in 2007, in an exhibition at the ZKM/Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, followed by solo shows at Orange County Museum of Art and ShowKonstfack, and a group show organized by the Ben Maltz Gallery of Otis College of Art and Design. After considerable redevelopment, the second iteration was built in collaboration with Blanka Earhart directing the interface design; interface production by Luke Domagalski and Raphael Arar; illustrations by Nick Lu; sound compositions by Aaron Drake and Kari Rae Seekins, with additional music by Raphael Arar. It premiered in the 2010 exhibition “The Future of the Future,” curated by Jaroslav Andĕl for the DOX: Centre for Contemporary Art Prague.
Description	Written by Norman M. Klein in collaboration with Gilded Age historian Margo Bistis, The Imaginary 20th Century is the title of a historical comic novel that is available in print (2016) and as an e-book with a companion narrated media archive (2014). This is the rare novel to have originated as an interactive installation that spawned related solo and group exhibitions prior to publication. What has evolved is a layered narrative that offers a literary alternative to gaming and other forms of media storytelling. In 2012, Klein, who coined the term “scripted space” in 1998, and Bistis coined "wunder-roman" to describe this alternative form. As described in the novel, this term references a mythical 19th-century version of the picaresque novel where the layers—as story—roll along a water wheel.Wunder-roman evokes the mental imagery of navigating the various components: the narrated media archive layered with sound or the comic historical novel with essays. Each component stands alone, but like the lyrics and music of an opera, they belong to each other. In the novel, the massive privately-held “Carrie’s archive” (1917-1936) contains 2000+ documents affixed to cards stored inside a circuitous room and mechanically accessible much like garments stored on dry-cleaner racks. Subscribers to the online package (the archive and ebook of novel) are granted access to these documents: “photographs, films, comic illustrations, scientific and medical imagery, industrial designs, architectural drawings and ephemera like postcards, stereocards, and maps” spanning 1885 to 1925.Margo Bistis. "Curating Carrie's Archive." The Imaginary 20th Century. Karlsruhe. ZKM/ Center for Art and Media. 2016. p. 169 The first documents, and the curatorial idea for The Imaginary 20th Century, evolved out of Bistis’ research for “Comic Art: The Paris Salon in Caricature,” a 2003 exhibition organized by the Getty Research Institute.Margo Bistis. "Curating Carrie's Archive." The Imaginary 20th Century. Karlsruhe. ZKM/Center for Art and Media. 2016. p. 167 Klein and Bistis started work on the project with support from California Institute of the Arts. Principal support came from the ZKM/Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, the co-producer of Klein’s award-winning media novel Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles, 1920-1986 (2003). Like Bleeding Through, The Imaginary 20th Century “is not a work of hypertext” but “reveals a more humanistic approach to database aesthetics….”Kim Beil. “The Imaginary 20th Century.”Artweek. Vol. 39:2 (March 2008). p 20 The first iteration of The Imaginary 20th Century interface was built by Andreas Kratky, Klein’s collaborator on Bleeding Through. It premiered in 2007, in an exhibition at the ZKM/Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, followed by solo shows at Orange County Museum of Art and ShowKonstfack, and a group show organized by the Ben Maltz Gallery of Otis College of Art and Design. After considerable redevelopment, the second iteration was built in collaboration with Blanka Earhart directing the interface design; interface production by Luke Domagalski and Raphael Arar; illustrations by Nick Lu; sound compositions by Aaron Drake and Kari Rae Seekins, with additional music by Raphael Arar. It premiered in the 2010 exhibition “The Future of the Future,” curated by Jaroslav Andĕl for the DOX: Centre for Contemporary Art Prague.

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DETAILS

Name	The Imaginary 20th Century
Name
Authors	Norman M. Klein and Margo Bistis
Authors
Translator
Translator
Genre	Historical comedy , espionage , picaresque , adventure
Genre
Series
Series
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Number in series
Language	English
Language
Country	Germany
Country

PUBLISH

Story timeline
Story timeline
Pages	240 (48 illus.)
Pages
Media_type	Print (paperback, e-book, narrated media archive)
Media_type
Isbn	978-3--928201-48-3
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Publisher