Initial lookings into..(see above.)
http://curatorsintl.org/exhibitions/phantasmagoria_specters_of_absence
Phantasmagoria was a 18th and 19th century french/ europe concept. It was essentially a magic show with trickery at the heart of it. Mirrors, candles and cardboard cut outs would show up images on the wall to confuse people into what they were seeing. It was a performance based on magic lanterns and rear projections. Some would also use smoke as a way of creating ghost like people. Phantasmagoria shows were a mode of tricking, a way to make the unreal seem real.
I believe you can date back some of the first phantasmagoria shows to 1675 with Samual Van Hoogstraten's Shadow dance.
In art it seems to deal with the notions of absence, disappearance and loss.
It is also a place where the viewer seems to willingly go to be deceived and revel in this.
http://curatorsintl.org/exhibitions/phantasmagoria_specters_of_absence
Phantasmagoria was a 18th and 19th century french/ europe concept. It was essentially a magic show with trickery at the heart of it. Mirrors, candles and cardboard cut outs would show up images on the wall to confuse people into what they were seeing. It was a performance based on magic lanterns and rear projections. Some would also use smoke as a way of creating ghost like people. Phantasmagoria shows were a mode of tricking, a way to make the unreal seem real.
I believe you can date back some of the first phantasmagoria shows to 1675 with Samual Van Hoogstraten's Shadow dance.
In art it seems to deal with the notions of absence, disappearance and loss.
It is also a place where the viewer seems to willingly go to be deceived and revel in this.