Patrick Horan

fan/steria

The internet has transformed what it means to be a music fan. Fans can and do build communities more rapidly and successfully now than ever before. They’re making a new kind of music scene that shakes up long-standing balances of power between fans and the music makers. This change calls for a new kind of relationship, resulting in an entirely new dynamic between fans and their idols through online social platforms, and this interpersonal nature causes entirely new levels of ‘hysteria’ to arise.

FAN/STERIA is a bi-monthly magazine that investigates and clarifies the various types of hysteria found in most popular music fandoms, and how their behavior has been forever present throughout the pop music. This includes illustrating the motivations and complications of fans’ behaviours by deciphering various blog posts, music video comments, and the distortion of ‘fan wars’ that occur between fans. The launch of this magazine is also accompanied by a set of promotional posters, along with a viral site that users can log on and orchestrate their own hysteria using the manic animations, sound files and GIFs.