Melissa Ferrari’s RELICT: A PHANTASMAGORIA (Original Magic Lantern Show!)

The Philosophical Research Society welcomes experimental nonfiction animator, educator, magic lanternist, and 2024 PRS Contributing Artist Melissa Ferrari for a performance of her mindblowing, original magic lantern show RELICT: A PHANTASMAGORIA !

Relict: A Phantasmagoria is an experimental documentary performed with antique magic lanterns and hand-drawn animation. Invoking the history of magic lantern phantasmagoria as an exercise in belief and perception, Relict considers the zeitgeist of pseudoscience, fake news, religion, and documentary ethics collapsed within contemporary cryptozoology.

Adapting modern cryptozoological lore such as Bigfoot hunts and the Loch Ness Monster to hand-drawn magic lantern slides, Relict employs the visual language of magic lantern phantasmagoria through slides based on antique designs, including geared slides and dissolving views. These pre-cinematic images are infused with the aesthetics of veracity in current nonfiction filmmaking, including CGI speculative animated documentary, thermal imaging, and interventions of rotoscoped documentary re-enactment. Inspired by the magic lantern's historical role as a tool for scientific lectures, Relict wanders through histories of documentary animation used to visualize and legitimize monstrous creatures. The performance is nested in a collage of soundscapes, including interviews with Dr. Brian Regal (Kean University), a leading historian of science on the politics of skepticism in cryptozoology; a recent creationist sermon; and excerpts of pseudoscientific wildlife documentaries.

Acquainting folklores of the past with contemporary culture, Ferrari’s works expose peripheral histories – aiming to unveil the wonder that lies in the shadow of nonfiction, rather than fiction. Her practice engages with intersections of science and the supernatural, the mythification of pseudoscience, and the history of phantasmagoria and documentary.

Originally from Virginia, Melissa is now based in Los Angeles. Her films and lantern performances have been shown internationally in venues such as Hot Docs, Ottawa International Animation Festival, Hauser & Wirth, and Ann Arbor Film Festival. As an animated documentarian, her commissions have been featured in The New York Times, PBS and the MOMA. Melissa teaches nonfiction animation and expanded cinema, most recently at CalArts and LACHSA.

Check out Melissa Ferrari’s website and follow her on Instagram

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

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Host or Publisher The Philosophical Research Society