The Fantasy of the Novel. Readings by David Maroto

Exclusively for Studio K, David Maroto reads excerpts from his recently released book The Fantasy of the Novel. The Fantasy of the Novel is a research by Maroto, a Spanish, Rotterdam-based artist born in 1976. Based on a series of questions such as “Why do artists write novels?”, “What impact does the artist’s novel have on the visual arts?”, “How should such a novel be experienced?”, this investigation has explored how, in recent years, there has been a proliferation of visual artists who create novels as part of their broader art practice. It unearthed, in some way, a history and theory of a practice that has long been ignored. Relying on subjectivity, the artist’s novel reintroduces notions such as fiction, narrative and imagination in the visual arts. Maroto states that it stands as a new medium for artists, and produced a two-volume book called The Artist's Novel: The Novel as a Medium in the Visual Arts (Mousse Publishing, 2020). The Fantasy of the Novel is Part 2 of this publication. If Part 1 is an essay that examines the work of Benjamin Seror, Cally Spooner, Mai-Thu Perret and Goldin+Senneby, and that includes interviews with artists, curators and editors, this second text employs the form of a novel in order to examine the process of creation of an artist’s novel. The protagonist assumes the role of a detective who tries to understand the conditions under which an artist decides to write, and how this is possible within an artistic setting. More information on The Artist's Novel.