The Family Fang – Kevin Wilson

Where to draw the line is a question of moral dispute that incites many debates and rarely offers answers. The line is close for some people, far for others, and sometimes even nonexistent. What line you may ask? ‘That line.’ The one you forget exists until you dangerously cross it. In jokes ‘the line’ is a subject of constant debate. What is ‘too far’ within the realm of humor? In art, ‘the line’ is often blurry, wavy, or just not there, sparking many debates as well. In 1971 Chris Burden was shot in the arm by a friend as a part of an art piece entitled “Shoot.” In 2007 Guillermo Vargas starved a dog, tied it to the wall, and burned pieces of crack cocaine and marijuana as part of his art show “N° 1.” In 2008 Aliza Shvarts claimed to have artificially inseminated and aborted multiple of her own fetuses over the course of a year as part of her senior performance art project at Yale University. Do these art works cross ‘the line’? Or, does tacking the word ‘art’ onto something controversial make it acceptable?

In a class at Columbia College Chicago, the students were given a list of ethically questionable actions and asked to come to a consensus and organize the list from least ethical to most ethical. During the ensuing debate, the topics that the class had the most difficulty deciding on were the topics which included the word art. Was standing on an American flag as part of an art piece ethical? Was using aborted fetuses as a medium acceptable in the name of art? Although ‘the line’ in art is unlikely to be defined soon or ever, the topic is still one of considerable discussion and is addressed in Kevin Wilson’s new novel, The Family Fang.

Wilson’s first novel follows the life of the Fang family, a couple of performance artists and their children. The story unfolds in the present with every other chapter being a flashback description of a piece of art produced by the Fang family. Camille and Caleb Fang, the matriarch and patriarch of the Fang clan have a very unique view of what art is and they often carried out their acts without regard for the wellbeing or future sanity of their children.

The book begins when the children are grown and trying to cope in the real world after a childhood full of bizarre works of art in which they were forced to participate. Annie Fang is an aspiring actress holding a lot of resentment for her less than normal childhood. Buster Fang is a struggling freelance journalist by day and a novelist by night. When Annie becomes involved in several tabloid scandals and is kicked out of her movie and Buster is shot in the face with a potato gun and uses his last cent on the medical bills, the Fang children are forced to return home to their parents and their artistic antics. Soon after they return, Camille and Caleb Fang go missing and Annie and Buster are forced to investigate their disappearance. Are the Fang parents actually missing or are they in the midst of a piece of art? The stress that the disappearance puts on the siblings suggests that if this is art, this piece has definitely crossed the line.

 Everything about the plot and the characters in The Family Fang are completely absurd, but to the great entertainment of the reader. These absurdities are only accentuated by the descriptions of the art produced by the Fangs in the alternating chapters. Wilson must have been a performance artist in his past life because the book is entirely filled with completely strange ideas for art pieces centering on the Fang philosophy of art: chaos is beauty. While providing a reason to laugh, the flashback descriptions also add depth to the characters especially Annie and Buster who are constantly dealing with their past and who find themselves unable to disentangle themselves from their strange and scarring childhood. With the goal of ultimate chaos, Camille and Caleb devised numerous performances which incorporated Annie and Buster starting when they were only infants, these works ultimately resulted in complete turmoil and occasionally arrest. As you can imagine, a childhood filled with forced performance art participation led to some serious mental and character flaws in the Fang children which provides the backdrop for the unfolding mystery of the Fang disappearance.

While the plot of the story never fails to entertain, the book loses some resonance because of its complete absurdity. The underlying themes of family bonds and sibling relationships are completely overshadowed and made not relatable by the fact that the Fang family is most certainly one of a kind. Not many people find themselves forced to dress in drag to overthrow a beauty pageant or asked to eat hundreds of jelly beans off the floor of a candy shop. Though these events will no doubt provide a laugh, the deeper and more subtle elements of the novel are buried under these farces. At the root, The Family Fang is about overcoming trying pasts and about family relationships, that is if you can find it through the chaos of the Fang pranks that consume the book.

Part mystery, part art book, part romance, part family history, The Family Fang is a circus run by a crazy person. It may be completely unrealistic, it may be insanely bizarre, but it is sure to be enjoyable. There is no doubt that after reading this book you will begin to ponder ‘the line’ and, in fact, the very meaning of the word art.