When the occult came to the American West: individualism and magic in the art of California, from Agnes Pelton to Jess

“It is in America that the transformation will take place, and has already silently commenced.” With these words, written in The Secret Doctrine in 1888, occultist philosopher Helena Blavatsky drew a direct connection between the Theosophical Society and the dynamic energy of 19th-century Americanism.

Blavatsky and her successors identified the American West as the perfect site for a rebirth and re-enchantment of humanity, drawing those seeking spiritual fulfilment outside of organized religion to the dramatic landscapes of California, Arizona, Utah . . . .go to book page >>

Black Mirror is a peer-reviewed series that seeks to examine ways in which the occult and the esoteric have been at the heart of art practice, both today and throughout the modernist period.

Black Mirror 2: Elsewhere looks at questions concerning other planes and other realities. It includes essays on the work of Kurt Seligmann, Leon Engers, Fiona Pardington and Joaquim Vilela, as well as writing on the intersection of occult thought with contemporary fashion, architecture and art.

Black Mirror is edited and produced by an international group of artists and researchers working out of New York University Steinhardt, Arts University Bournemouth . . . .go to book page >>

American photographer Shannon Taggart (born 1975) became aware of spiritualism as a teenager when her cousin received a message from a medium that revealed details about her grandfather's death. In 2001, while working as a photojournalist, she began photographing where that message was received—Lily Dale, New York, home to the world's largest spiritualist community, proceeding to other communities in, for example, Arthur Findlay College in the UK. Taggart expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the spiritualist trade. Instead, spiritualism’s mysterious processes, earnest practitioners and neglected photographic history became an inspiration. Her project evolved into an 18-year . . . .go to book page >>

“Looking at your pictures is like looking through butterfly wings.” Jimi Hendrix

Between 1968 and 1971, in a loft on New York's Jefferson Street, the poet, photographer and filmmaker Ira Cohen created some of the most mythic images of the late 1960s. Inspired by his friends Jack Smith and Bill Devore, Cohen’s initial experiments with black light developed into an experimental ritual space he termed the Mylar Chamber—a simple room of hinged boards hung with reflective Mylar film. Through his extended network, and with the support of artist and set designer Robert LaVigne, Cohen invited visitors to play another self within . . . .go to book page >>