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Media Archaeology and Intermedial Performance pp 253–272Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Mediated Visions of Life: An Archaeology of Microscopic Theatre

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Part of the book series: Avant-Gardes in Performance ((AGP))

Abstract

Since its inception, the microscope fulfilled a dual function as an instrument of scientific research and as an amusement device lending itself to playful enquiry. In the early nineteenth century, with the invention of the projection microscope—a magic lantern combined with a microscope—microscopy developed fully as a public spectacle well suited to show business. The projection microscope brought minuscule presences, invisible to the naked eye, into the room on a human scale, almost as if it had taken physical form. Starting from the contemporary work of video artist Sarah Vanagt, this chapter more specifically proposes a media-archaeological perspective on microscopic theatre, and discusses the way in which this historically informed work reflects on the history of vision and the role of science, media, and technology in our contemporary moment.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On van Leeuwenhoek and changing ideas of “seeing” in art and science in seventeenth-century Europe, see Snyder (2015) and Ruestow (1996).

  2. 2.

    The copperplate transfer process was based on the ceramic transfer process used by Sadler and Green from 1756 onwards. This process did not allow for full mass reproduction, as the transfer-printed images were hand-painted and thus required a lot of work from painters. The transfer process was not a form of mass production, but it did help instrument makers to standardize images by repeating each outline and image subject. This meant that he could sell a consistent product that could be associated with his wider marketing campaign. (Roberts 2016, 322–325) (Roberts 2017).

  3. 3.

    Najaf Koolee Meerza, Journal of a Residence in England… (privately printed, 1839), I, 305, cited in Altick (1978, 370).

  4. 4.

    For more on female science popularisers in Victorian England and the narrative formats they developed, see Lightman (2007). On Mary Ward in particular see Creese (2004).

  5. 5.

    A Million Pictures (2015–2018) was a collaborative research project that brought together researchers from the Universities of Utrecht (NL), Antwerp (BE), Exeter (UK), Girona (ES), and Salamanca (ES) as well as 20 or so European museums with collections of lantern slides. The project was financed via the Joint Programming Initiative Cultural Heritage and Global Change programme, which works to stimulate cooperation between European research groups working in the cultural heritage field. The purpose of this project was to promote the sustainable use and management of lantern slides held in various European collections, develop tools for their documentation, preservation, digitization, and stimulate forms of creative and artistic reuse. The Antwerp team active in the consortium was concentrating specifically on the magic lanterns in the Vrielynck collection—a collection of antique cameras, optical toys, and other cinematographic paraphernalia that have been in the care of M KHA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, since 2003. The website of the project is at a-million-pictures.wp.hum.uu.nl

  6. 6.

    Schijnvis/Showfish/Poisson Brillant was first exhibited in M KHA, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, 27 Oct–13 Nov 2016, and later as part of a group exhibition curated by Edwin Carels at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, called the Nuts & Bolts exhibition, 26 Jan–4 Feb 2017.

  7. 7.

    On 24 April 1674, van Leeuwenhoek wrote: “I have also observed a seed of the spawn of a cod at the time when the fish lays its spawn, which seed I found to be of a completely round body, without any colour, nor anything to be seen in it, but on placing it at some distance in front of my microscope, I saw through the seed an amusing perspective of towers, and all that stood before me, but extremely small and upside down”. Van Leeuwenhoek, Anthoni. 1925. “Alle de brieven. Deel 1: 1673–1676.” In A.J.J. Vandevelde and W.H. Van Seters (1925). Verslagen en mededeelingen der Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie. Gent: Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde, 171–172.

  8. 8.

    For more information on the scientific and artistic work of this lanternist duo, see the website of the illuminago ensemble: http://illuminago.de/

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Free University of Brussels (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

    Nele Wynants

  2. University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Nele Wynants

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  1. Free University of Brussels (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

    Nele Wynants

  2. University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Nele Wynants

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Wynants, N. (2019). Mediated Visions of Life: An Archaeology of Microscopic Theatre. In: Wynants, N. (eds) Media Archaeology and Intermedial Performance. Avant-Gardes in Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99576-2_12

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