Science fiction and art

Fall 2017. EAD faculty member Antoinette LaFarge has a new essay on science fiction out in the MOSF Journal of Science Fiction. In “Alive in the Now: Ekphrasis in Philip K. Dick and William Gibson”, she takes a close look at how descriptions of art function in the work of these two major science fiction writers. What purpose does it serve to conjure up artworks inside a science-fictional world that is itself an imaginary construct? While there is a long tradition of such ekphrastic description in literature, she concludes that it functions somewhat differently in science fiction. Fans of Dick or Gibson will find this a thought-provoking read.