Avant Pop Pt. 2: Enemy of the Novel

It is the essence of the Avant Pop artist to be iconoclastic and alchemic. The typical definition of alchemy is the changing of metal into gold, however a more fitting definition would be the pushing and cleansing of base metals into purer forms. This is what the Avant Pop artist attempts to do with literature. He is the enemy of the novel, because he is its truest friend.

To be the enemy of philosophy, art, literature, in affect of all things that come from the realm of inspired creation is to truly love it. To loath it's arrogance and pretenses, its shortcomings and failings, to desire to crush the parameters that have been created for it and made it stagnant is to be it's closest friend. It is the true mark of a friend that it always has and always will expect more of it.

For too long now it has been the assumption of ineffability of the novel and the artist, not to mention the arrogance of the artist himself and the high minded attitudes of the literary society that have held it back from progression.

Literature and all literary theories must be approached from an evolutionary standpoint, which is to say, they exist merely as stepping stones to be utilized and then progressed beyond, not as dogmatic truths. In this way the novel is free to change with the times, to meet the realities of the culture it exists in, and to freely grow into more interesting and stimulating realms previously unavailable to it. To be somewhat drastic, if the novel does not allow for growth and for change, then it is for all theoretical purposes dead, a rotting corpse and whisper of the past.

In that the purpose of the novel is to stimulate thought, imagination and the emotions, it stands to reason that it must stimulate all the senses to the most of it's ability. This is where the Internet comes into play for many Avant Pop artists. The Internet is a hot bed of possibility, by working as a design writer in the realm of Hypertext the Avant Pop artist can create texts that defy linear notion, that allow the reader to become an active participant in creating the story by choosing the various paths that the creator has laid out for them. It also allows for visual and auditory stimuli that can create a more in depth experience than what has previously been allowed for.

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