Fantasy
By medium: fantastic literature - fantastic film - fantastic art
Palais Idéal (1879 - 1924) - Ferdinand Cheval
image sourced here.Cheval began this building in April 1879. He claimed that he tripped on a stone and was inspired by its shape. He returned to the same spot the next day and begun to collect stones. For the next 33 years, during his daily mail route, Cheval carried stones from his delivery rounds and at home used them to build his Palais Idéal, the Ideal Castle. First he carried the stones in his pockets, then a basket and eventually a wheelbarrow. He often worked at night in the light of an oil lamp. Locals regarded him as a village idiot. [Jun 2006]
Related: creativity - art - dream - fiction - fantastic - grotesque - hallucination - imagination - fantasy (sexuality)
Contrast: realism - reality - seriousness
Definition
A fantasy is a situation imagined by an individual or group, which does not correspond with reality but expresses certain desires or aims of its creator. Fantasies typically involve situations which are impossible (such as the existence of magic powers) or highly unlikely (such as world peace). Fantasies can also be sexual in nature.
An adult who constantly seems to be living in a fantasy world may be considered a Walter Mitty character. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_%28psychology%29 [Mar 2006]
Fantasy as genre
Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. The genre is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by overall look, feel, and theme of the individual work, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as speculative fiction). In its broadest sense, fantasy covers works by many writers, artists, and musicians, from ancient myths and legends, to many recent works embraced by a wide audience today.
As with other forms of speculative fiction, actions and events in fantasy very often differ from those possible in consensus reality. In many cases, especially in older works of fantasy but in many modern works as well, this is explained by means of divine intervention, magic, or other supernatural forces. In other cases, most frequently in works of modern fantasy in the high fantasy subgenre, the story might take place in a fantasy world that is wholly different from our own, complete with distinct laws of nature that permit magic. --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy [Aug 2006]
Taschen presents: Fantasy Worlds (1999) - John Maizels, Deidi von Schaewen
Taschen presents: Fantasy Worlds (1999) - John Maizels, Deidi von Schaewen [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
See also: fantasy - world - Taschen
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