I’ve been looking at cross-overs between TV shows (when 2 fictional worlds meet — like the mixing of NY CSI with Miami CSI) and just recently a comic of the animated TV shows Simpsons and Futurama. The comic, The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis II: Chapter 1: “Slaves fo New New York!”, is a spendid indulgence into the techniques explored in clever cross-over shows. It truly is a metafiction about crossover fiction. One of my favourite scenes is when the scientist explains how the Simpsons ended up in Futurama. How this clash of fictional worlds occurs is actually quite simple:

If only I could submit the special shears for my PhD!

I’ve also just recently met an academic in my school who joined the department last year. He, Peter Hill, has been researching what he terms ‘superfictions’ for many years. Like ALG (alternate reality gaming) and immersive aesthetics and so on, ‘superfictons’ plays with the flimsy curtain separating fiction and reality. Hill, however, a celebrated author and artist, explores this continuum through art. In particular, Hill looks at cross-media works of installations, websites and mail art. Hill has, among other works, manufactored a fake museum: The Museum of Contemporary Ideas.

I’ll be writing alot more about Peter and the works he investigates (adding them to the project pages), and his upcoming book on Superfictions.