In a darkened room, a gaggle of sitters arrange themselves, jostling for position around a young woman. The murmurs die out; the sitters clasp each other's hands; the last gas-lamp fades. The woman casts her eyes downward before opening her mouth and beginning to speak in a voice not quite her own…

​

Tales of hauntings beg the question – what happens at the edge of our understanding, that which we cannot logically explain? Drawing from Spiritualist histories, What Presence contemplates how the supernatural and epistemological entwine and what truths we can conjure from the dark hubbub of the séance.

​

This was the artist's Master's thesis and exhibition at Universität für angewandte Kunst, Vienna. A full text of the thesis can be viewed on request.

​

Photo credit: 

University of Applied Arts Vienna, Photo © Jorit Aust, 2022.

​

Video credit:

University of Applied Arts Vienna, Video: © Anna Sophia-Rußman and Kilian Immervoll, 2022.