Phlosque

From Conbledegook

Aptly described by Dave Langford (see Ansible) as, "Filling a much needed lack," Phlosque was formulated to describe, not only a form of art prevalent in SF and fantasy, but an increasingly dominant form of contemporary aesthetic consumerism. Phlosque frequently features a dragon, a unicorn or a sensitive paranormal figure, but these signifiers are neither sufficient in themselves to qualify the artform as Phlosque, nor essential to that qualification. Phlosque is detemined by intent rather than content, making the award's definition unusually aesthetic in the world of Art.

The term was invented by SMS following a conversation in a curry house with Chris Bell, Tom Abba, Dave Barratt and Eira in 1994. Since then, annually promoted sponsored and awarded by SMS and Eira, a Phlosque award has been awarded to the most tasteful, sympathetic, and significant fantasy artwork of each Eastercon art show.