| In
Ether,
the histories of
mysticism and the unseen merge with discussions of the technology and
science
of electromagnetism. Joe Milutis explores how the ideas of Anton Mesmer
and Isaac Newton have manifested themselves as the inspiration for
occult
theories and artistic practices from Edgar Allan Poe’s works
to today.
In doing so, he demonstrates that fading in and out of scientific favor
has not prevented the ether, a uniquely immaterial concept, from being
a powerful force for material progress.
Milutis
deftly weaves the origins
of electrical science with alchemical lore, nineteenth-century
industrialism
with yogic science, and network space with dreams of the absolute.
Linking
the ether to phenomena such as radio noise, space travel, avant-garde
film,
and the rise of the Internet, he lends it an almost physical presence
and
currency. From Federico Fellini to Gilles Deleuze, Japanese anime to
Italian
Futurism, Jean Cocteau to NASA, Shirley Temple to Wilhelm Reich, Ether
traverses geographical boundaries, spiritual planes, and the divide
between
popular and high culture.
|
Ether
The
Nothing That Connects
Everything
by
Joe Milutis
University
of Minnesota
Press, 2006
Order
a copy
|
