Conceptual Reconstructionism Project

Welcome to our art interpretation project.

You will find here textual reconstructions of various works, including music, painting, photography, movies, literature (fiction and non-fiction), even possibly video games. A reconstruction is not a substitute for the reconstructed content, but instead a form of selective reading which helps to focus on an overlooked aspect of content, namely the “medium-specific narratives.” It is best read when the reader already experienced the reconstructed content. Unlike traditional reviews, it doesn’t try to give an idea of the content, and unlike traditional analysis, it doesn’t add any value to the content. Instead, it highlights the content in a way that coerces the reader into looking at the hard facts of the content with a certain discipline that rewards with a newfound appreciation of uniqueness.

The motivations and goals for this project are stated in the Manifesto of Conceptual Reconstructionism. The project is basically the result of a critique of critique that arose from a personal dissatisfaction with interpretation and analysis in general, and their negligence of the medium-specific narratives in particular. For a more comprehensive discussion of our interpretation framework, we refer you to our online book: Conceptual Reconstructionism: An Initiative for the Interpretation of Medium-specific Narratives.

We do not aim at building a comprehensive knowledge base. Instead, we only intend to reconstruct selected works to inspire social progress through interpretation and creation. The project is non-profit and open to people who share our vision (cf. contact info below).

Featured reconstructions

Red links are reconstructions planned for the next few months.

Music

• Reconstruction:Soon To Be Dead by Dismember
• Reconstruction:Wake Up Dead by Megadeth
• Reconstruction:Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown by Burzum
• Reconstruction:Hvis lyset tar oss by Burzum
• Reconstruction:Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss by Immortal
• Reconstruction:Crushing the Scepter (Regaining a Lost Dominion) by Gorgoroth
• Reconstruction:Inpropagation by Carcass
• We will probably cover Vivaldi, Beethoven, and a vast repertoire of metal songs (which have the advantage over the classical repertoire of being minimalistic and to the point).

Literature

• Reconstruction:As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
• Reconstruction:The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Reconstruction:Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway
• Reconstruction:Dans la luge d’Arthur Schopenhauer by Yasmina Reza
• Reconstruction:The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Movies

• Reconstruction:Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino
• Reconstruction:2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
• Reconstruction:Angst (1983) by Gerald Kargl
• Reconstruction:I Stand Alone (Seul contre tous) by Gaspar Noé
• Reconstruction:Irréversible by Gaspar Noé

Painting and photography

• Reconstruction:Lozenge Composition with Two Lines by Piet Mondrian
• Reconstruction:La Vie by Pablo Picasso
• Reconstruction:Damsels wearing face packs posing before panels by Jay Maisel
• Various paintings by Paul Cezanne
• Various paintings by Lorenzo Tiepolo
• Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion

Current state of the project

Primitive reconstructions have been around since the early 2000s, but were never published. The concept has matured over the years, enough to warrant a book which got finished November 15^th, 2021. The main factor that led to this project was the realization that reconstructions didn’t have to be obscure reading, but could in fact be the very opposite.

The current plans are to promote the concept to the public, and to post reconstructions.

The next step will be to build a forum where people can discuss various topics not only about reconstruction, but with reconstruction as a mindset.

Recent changes and additions

• 01-08-2023: Added Reconstruction:Dans la luge d’Arthur Schopenhauer by Yasmina Reza
• 23-01-2022: Added Reconstruction:I Stand Alone (Seul contre tous) by Gaspar Noé
• 16-01-2022: Added Reconstruction:Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown by Burzum
• 15-01-2022: Added Reconstruction:Wake Up Dead by Megadeth
• 13-01-2022: Rewrote the first reconstructions to be more reader-friendly and more explicit and explanatory when it comes to the resolution of the medium-specific narrative
• 09-01-2022: Added Reconstruction:Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway
• 22-12-2021: Added Reconstruction:Soon To Be Dead by Dismember. The reason for choosing this song as the first music reconstruction is that it is very short while intricate enough to be interesting in terms of its medium-specific narrative.
• 22-12-2021: Implemented code for music reconstructions. They now contain a multi-track audio player. Sound references can be played individually, and are highlighted karaoke-style when the music plays.
• 18-12-2021: Added Reconstruction:Damsels wearing face packs posing before panels by Jay Maisel
• 14-12-2021: Added Reconstruction:The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• 09-12-2021: Added Reconstruction:La Vie by Pablo Picasso
• 06-12-2021: Added Reconstruction:As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
• 27-11-2021: Finished the Manifesto
• 11-11-2021: Finished the Book

Articles and ideas of articles

• Article:Are “reconstruction” and “medium-specific narrative” just new buzzwords?
• Article:The case of metal music in conceptual reconstructionism: metal music is prominently featured in music reconstructions, including some of its most extreme branches (if you thought Slipknot was brutal, think twice). Why? Does it mean people who don’t like extreme music should like it?
• Article:The psychology, emotion, meaning and value of reconstruction: while recontruction plays dead when it comes to meaning, emotions and value judgments, it is still ultimately used to trigger what might be what Paul Cézanne called his “little sensation.”
• Article:Reconstruction, parody and humor: pure reconstruction is acultural. Does it mean we can’t reconstruct parodies or other types of humoristic content?
• Article:How to write reconstructions: for a beginner, reconstructing and writing reconstructions is not intuitive because of deeply ingrained habits.

Contact

If you’re interested in participating or knowing/discussing more about this project, you may contact this site’s maintainer, thaumasnot, using this site’s domain for the email address.