#45 S:PAM Lecture | Owen G. Parry – Fandom as Dramaturgy

Name: #45 S:PAM Lecture | Owen G. Parry – Fandom as Dramaturgy
Start: 2025-04-24T13:30:00+02:00
End: 2025-04-24T15:30:00+02:00
Location: Rozier 44, 9000 Gent, België

Schedule

Thu Apr 24 2025 at 01:30 pm to 03:30 pm

UTC+02:00

Location

Rozier 44, 9000 Gent, België | Gent, OV

The lecture will take place at Library Lab Magnel (Rozier 44). Please register via https://event.ugent.be/registration/fandomdramaturgy
This S:PAM lecture #45 on Fandom as Dramaturgy by Dr. Owen G. Parry, lecturer in Critical Studies of Fine Art at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London), is organized in connection with the PhD defense of S:PAM researcher Tessa Vannieuwenhuyze’s 'Staging the Musical Self(ie): Persona across Popular Music and Contemporary Performing Arts'. In this context, Dr. Parry has been invited to talk about his research and artistic practice concerned with fandom as dramaturgy and the fan practice of “shipping” as an undervalued dramaturgical device. This talk will then open up into a public discussion where participants can join the conversation about new media dramaturgies, and how new technologies and aesthetics flow together with theatre performance practice.
Dr. Parry, who completed his PhD on Trashy Tendencies in Contemporary Art and Performance at Goldsmiths in 2014, has focused his research on the intersection of queer performance, vernacular theory, pop celebrity, and occultism. His work examines how these practices are combined, re-purposed, or fictionalized to generate new aesthetic assemblages, counter-myths, and speculative imaginaries. Parry’s current project, Poor Theory, explores how "the weird internet"—including fandom, memes, magical practices, and conspiracy theories—has moved from the margins to become central to life in capitalist ruins. This builds on his previous work, Fan Riot (2016 - ongoing), which investigates how fans have driven the evolution of the internet and includes artworks, performances, international publications, and a 'fan club' series.
© Owen G. Parry - Larry!Hieroglifics (Digital etching on perspex, 2019)