The Artist is Absent: Two Science Fiction Anthologies on the Future of Art

Author: Katharine Aberle

Field of Study: English

Program Affiliation: Source Project Research Program

Faculty Mentors: Will Glovinsky

Easel: 56

Timeslot: Morning

Abstract: The topic of art in science fiction (SF) traditionally falls into three categories: utopian thought that worries that society will be too blissfully boring to produce good art; dystopian thought sentimentalizing the unorthodox individual’s artmaking as a feeble flame of human autonomy amid darkness; or an afterthought in more technologically focused futures that often have little to say about it at all. Even scholarship regarding art’s presence or absence in SF is scarce, yet the topic has not always been neglected by SF writers. This study examines two little-discussed anthologies devoted to the topic: New Dreams This Morning (1966) and The Arts and Beyond: Visions of Man’s Aesthetic Future (1977). These collections usefully highlight past speculations about the arts and aesthetics and can remind critics of the relevance of examining such predictions. From fears of art’s automation, to rejection of the artist, to existence without art, past speculations about art in SF provide invaluable insights and reflections for society.