Fiction Function! World Stakes/History Shares: A rule book for the world history game

This article, jointly written by the sculptor and art critic Okazaki Kenjirō (b. 1955), scholar Tazaki Hideaki (b. 1960), and art critic Sawaragi Noi (b. 1962), is a critical examination of the relationship between art and the economic systems of capitalist and communist societies and energy systems such as oil and nuclear power.
The year this article was written, 1991, saw the end of the Cold War, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. According to the authors, capitalism and communism/socialism are alike in the sense that they both involve the exchange of “commodities” and have both attempted to portray themselves as closed systems. Within such systems, art cannot escape becoming one such “commodity.” This relationship between art and economy, the authors argue, is due to the global dominance of American art, which began in the 1930s and continued through the 1970s and relied on the monopolization of petroleum resources by major oil companies and the stability of the U.S. economy that was founded on those monopolies.
FRAME, a journal of art theory, published three issues from 1990 to 1991. Many scholars and critics contributed to this journal, but Okazaki, who was one of the publication’s editors, played a central role, contributing multiple articles to each of its three issues.

Title

Fiction Function! World Stakes/History Shares: A rule book for the world history game

Author

Okazaki Kenjirō, Tazaki Hideaki, Sawaragi Noi

First published

1991

Translation

Andrew Maerkle

Editing

Uesaki Sen, Yamagata Akiko

Design

Ian Lynam

Theme

State and Ecology

First Posted Online

2021-03-01

Last modified

2021-03-15

© 2021 Okazaki Kenjirō, Tazaki Hideaki, Sawaragi Noi + Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan

The "Readings" or the newly published English translations on this website (https://artplatform.go.jp) can be used without permission only for the purposes of education, research, critique, survey, and the like. English translations cannot be copied for the purpose of sale or distribution. You must comply with the Rules Governing the Use of the English Translations.

Citation

Footnote/endnote: Okazaki Kenjirō, Tazaki Hideaki, Sawaragi Noi, "Fiction Function! World Stakes/History Shares: A rule book for the world history game," trans. Andrew Maerkle, Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan, posted March 1, 2021, artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202002.

Bibliography: Okazaki Kenjirō, Tazaki Hideaki, Sawaragi Noi. "Fiction Function! World Stakes/History Shares: A rule book for the world history game." Translated by Andrew Maerkle. Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan. Posted March 1, 2021. artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202002.

Original Japanese Edition

Okazaki Kenjirō, Tazaki Hideaki, Sawaragi Noi, “Fikushon fankushon! Sekai no kakekin, rekishi no haitō Sekaishigēmu no tame no rūrubukku” in Frame, no. 2 (1991): 5–17.
岡﨑乾二郎、田崎英明、椹木野衣「FICTION FUNCTION!　世界の賭金・歴史の配当　世界史ゲームのためのルール・ブック」、『FRAME』2号（1991年）、5–17頁。

National Diet Library(NDL)

ISBN