Spectral Frameworks, Under Construction: Working Through Hauntology as a Potential Method
"Mark Fisher's writings on hauntology were my first introduction to the term, and despite retrospective critiques of his application and its lasting effects (particularly within music criticism) I have always felt (and its popularity can attest) that his writing manages to capture something vital. Hauntology in Fisher’s hands feels alive, as though when we describe hauntology (or describe something as hauntological) we are hinting at a level of non-being which is self-possessed; something which, despite its inherent non-existence, thinks, is, and has influence. He captures the autonomy we associate with the traditional archetypal ghost and shows that this autonomy is less to do with any dead figure that the spirit is supposed to represent than it is to do with the nature of haunting as a process itself — time and space take control of themselves and run circles around traditional modes of being."
(full text available here)
Almost Modern: Spatiotemporal Hauntings in Looney Tunes Cartoon Backgrounds
"What is unique to animation backgrounds, however, is the consideration for a purpose which is not contained within the image itself, but which also directly influences the actual visual composition of said image: the existential purpose of the pieces is subservient to the focal point of the eventual animated outcome. Fowler states, in bold, that “a good layout looks as though it is missing one key piece to the picture, the character, to complete it.” Visually, what this creates is a recurring aesthetic of planned absence and of expected presence – a spatial hauntology – which is hidden in plain sight."
(full text available here)
Retrograde Aperturity: An Annexe to 'Spectral Frameworks, Under Construction'
"Whilst the temporal and spatial hauntological structures which I have elsewhere outlined provide an applicable theoretical framework, my own nostalgic, reflective tendencies – and their priming influence on the development toward my hauntological thinking – must be seen through to their potential end as an inherent methodological feature of the apertura itself."
