The Machine and the Ghost : Technology and Spiritualism in Nineteenth- to Twenty-first-century Art and Culture

'The Machine and the Ghost' explores society's relationship with the spectral and the paranormal, read through our interaction with technology This stimulating new collection of essays and interviews provides a fresh perspective of society's relationship with the spectral, the ghostly and the paranormal, viewed through our interaction with technology. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach and drawing upon case studies taken from photography, video and the visual arts, the book explores the 'hauntedness' of technologies and ways in which artists, writers and psychical researchers have produced and recycled the iconography of spiritualism and other mediumistic phenomena. The book provides innovative critical thinking on our continued fascination with the role of the paranormal and explores how artists and writers continue to draw upon this field in their work. Spanning the period from the nineteenth century up to the present, the book incorporates a series of case studies embracing such topics as landscape, spirit photography, photomontage, curation and sound works. Theoretically rich, it explores a range of approaches, from the vitalism of Henri Bergson to the 'hauntology' of Jacques Derrida. Contributors include prominent artists such as Susan Hiller, whose videos, photographic work and installations have contributed enormously to the creation of this field within the visual arts, and renowned specialists such as the writer Marina Warner. This book will appeal to a broad academic and cultural audience, particularly undergraduates interested in our culture's fascination with the paranormal, and postgraduates and specialists within the field, but also those interested in art and culture more generally Focusing on our complex relationship with technology, The machine and the ghost explores our culture's continued fascination with the spectral, the ghostly and the paranormal. Through a series of critical case studies and artists'discussions, this lively new collection examines topics ranging from contemporary art to cultural theory. Produced with renowned specialists within the field, including the artist Susan Hiller and the writer Marina Warner, the book combines the historical with the contemporary in exploring how the visual culture of paranormal phenomena continues to haunt our imaginations. Informed by history and the visual tradition of spiritualism and psychical research, the collection is very much concerned to site that tradition within our contemporary concerns, such as landscape and environment, and recent technological developments. Aimed at a broad academic and cultural audience, the collection will appeal to all academic levels in addition to those interested in art and culture more widely. Front matter Contents List of figures List of contributors Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: technologies,spiritualisms, and modernities ‘It’s organisms that die, notlife’: Henri Bergson, psychical research, and the contemporary uses of vitalism Typewriter, pianola, slate, phonograph: recording technologies and automisation ‘Miraculous constellations in realmaterial’: spiritualist phenomena, Dada photomontage, and magic Ectoplasm and photography: mediumistic performances for camera Invasions and fakes: Susan Hiller in conversation with Alexandra Kokoli Image, technology, enchantment: Marina Warner in conversation with Dan Smith What happens in the gaps: An interview with Suzanne Treister by Roger Luckhurst The ghosts of media past and present: spirit photography and contemporary art From the premodern to the postmodern: mnemotechnics and the ghost of ‘the folk’ Ruskin’s haunted nature: art and the spectre of ecological catastrophe Index Focusing on our complex relationship with technology, The machine and the ghost explores our culture's continued fascination with the spectral, the ghostly and the paranormal. Through a series of critical case studies and artists' discussions, this lively new collection examines topics ranging from contemporary art to cultural theory. Produced with renowned specialists within the field, including the artist Susan Hiller and the writer Marina Warner, the book combines the historical with the contemporary in exploring how the visual culture of paranormal phenomena continues to haunt our imaginat