artisticfictional

Artisticfictional is a neologism used to describe a practice that treats fiction as an art object through deliberate artistic experimentation. It emphasizes form, media hybridity, and aesthetic experience as part of the storytelling, rather than focusing exclusively on plot or character.

Practitioners blend elements from literature, visual art, music, theater, and digital media to create works where narrative and formal design are intertwined. Techniques include non-linear or fractured chronology, metafiction, typographic experimentation, asemic writing, and the inclusion of visual or sonic cues that influence interpretation. Works may be presented as manuscripts, graphic pages, installations, or interactive digital pieces.

Origin and usage: The term is not widely standardized and is used chiefly in critical discussions of experimental practice. It aligns with but is not identical to movements such as postmodernism, avant-garde, or intermedia art. It is sometimes invoked to describe projects that foreground the materiality of the book or the interface as part of the reading experience.

Mediums and formats: Artisticfictional works appear in novels that emphasize design, graphic novels with experimental layouts, poem-and-art hybrids, multimedia installations, and web or game projects where narrative is inseparable from form and interface.

Reception: Critics note that artisticfictional can broaden what counts as fiction and expand audience engagement, but it can be challenging for readers seeking conventional storytelling. As a label, it remains emergent and somewhat fluid.

See also: metafiction, intermediality, transmedia storytelling, experimental literature.