Fan Art and Creative Community : THE MEANING OF ART IN ONLINE FANDOM

Sammanfattning: This study investigates the individual experience of viewing fan art and creative works within fandom, as well as the community’s potential to be a place for learning or to develop creative skills. I approach the fandom of Final Fantasy XIV, a massive multiplayer online game, on the online platform Tumblr, asking for fans’ experience with creative content and community connections. Through inspiration by Henry Jenkins, Olga Goriunova, Kristina Busse, and others, we learn the intricacies of what criteria defines communities, their adaptation to the expansion of the internet and how art has previously been used through online connections. What it is like to be an artist in a space so full of the influx of viewer opinions, other artists and their works, and the invisible ideals created by the communities. Fandom and online community studies are currently an expanding area of interest within the humanities with much still to learn. This study provides a picture of what fandom looks like from the perspective of the fans who actively participate in the culture. Fans find fan art and creative works within fandom to be more personal, inspiring, and a way to find likeminded individuals to connect with. At the same time fans are very aware of the issues fan art and the fandom has, both in terms of ethical and political questions. I believe this study sets up the potential to consider a multitude of future studies that can provide to a better understanding of the fandom culture and visual arts that occur online.