Monograafiates

Monograafiates is a neologism occasionally used in contemporary art, media theory, and speculative sociology to describe a proposed class of transmedia projects and social phenomena in which a single narrative or thematic thread is distributed across multiple platforms, artifacts, and spatial contexts. The term is not widely standardized and appears only in limited essays and artist statements since the early 2020s.

Etymology: The word is formed from elements suggesting a combination of single scope and graphic or communicative media, with a pluralizing suffix. It is not tied to a single established language, and its connotations vary across different circles.

Definition and characteristics: A monograafiates project aims to maintain coherence of a central narrative or concept while delegating different aspects to separate media forms—digital installations, physical artifacts, public signage, and user-generated contributions—so that the experience requires engagement across the network rather than a single medium. Authorship and provenance may be distributed or collaborative, and the project typically invites audience participation to complete or evolve the work.

Usage and reception: In practice, mentions of monograafiates are mostly theoretical, serving as a lens to examine authorship, distribution, and audience agency in an era of ubiquitous media. Critics emphasize caution with neologisms that lack clarity or reproducible criteria, while proponents see it as a useful concept for multimodal storytelling and networked culture.

See also: Transmedia storytelling, multimodal art, participatory art, distributed authorship, networked culture.