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.  

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After the original WIP performance Relict: A Phantasmagoria (2020), was delayed from performances by the pandemic for a couple of years, Melissa completed fabricating the performance at the Camera Obscura Studio Residency in Santa Monica from Sept 2022-Jan 2023. Relict: A Phantasmagoria (2023) features approximately 70 new magic lantern slides and will start showing in 2023.  

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