artpress2 n°32 explores TV series as collective art form

The introduction to artpress2 n°32, titled "Séries télévisées : formes, fabriques, critiques" by Christophe Kihm and Dork Zabunyan, proposes a framework for analyzing television series as both cultural objects and art forms. It critiques common approaches that either generalize all series based on production modes or treat each series as an autonomous artwork. Instead, it emphasizes the collective dimension of series—from writing to production, distribution, and cultural functioning—challenging oppositions between high and low culture, and between individual and collective authorship. The text argues that series create forms through extended narrative cycles, polyphonic storytelling, and temporal manipulations (pauses, digressions, accelerations). It also examines how series engage with contemporary issues like surveillance, video games, and news media, and how they reconfigure urban geography. The introduction further explores how viewing practices (streaming, DVD, traditional TV) transform the experience of fiction, restoring linearity and totality in a fragmented visual environment. The issue includes multiple articles that analyze specific series in relation to these themes.