Frankenstein Reanimated: Creation & Technology in the 21st Century

by Marc Garrett, Yiannis Colakides

Alexia Achilleos, Zach Blas, Frances A. Chiu, Ami Clarke, Régine Debatty, Mary Flanagan, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Srecko Horvat, Salvatore Iaconesi, Olga Kopenkina, Marinos Koutsomichalis, Shu Lea Cheang, Gretta Louw, Joana Moll, Laura Netz, Eryk Salvaggio, Devon Schiller, Guido Segni, Gregory Sholette, Karolina Sobecka, Alan Sondheim, Michael Szpakowski, Eugenio Tisselli, Ruben Verwaal, Paul Vanouse. Frankenstein Reanimated is a book for our strange times. Bang up to date it includes essays and artworks that engage with the Covid-19 pandemic, through to weird new imaginings of humanmachine hybrids. A striking cover with flaps displays a tryptich by artist Carla Gannis, a bespoke narrow format, and over 100 illustrations inside make this an attractive book for a wide range of audiences. Mary Shelley’s classic gothic horror and science fiction novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus has inspired millions since it was published in 1818. Today, we are witness to many different horrors and phantoms of our own creation. Chronic wealth and health inequalities, climate change, democratic collapse, and the spectre of nuclear apocalypse are among the diffuse, monstrous products of our “advanced” technological moment. Frankenstein Reanimated presents a dynamic collection of artworks, essays, and conversations, addressing surveillance, biohacking, viruses, colonialism, digital culture, and more. It retraces and contextualises three international art exhibitions exploring themes within Frankenstein, and speculates on what Mary Shelley would think about the world today. Collectively, the book offers a lens through which to look at our current situation, and how art practices shape, and are shaped by, contemporary society.

298 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Helen Varley · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an excellent collection of highly relevant articles by and about critically engaged artists and art projects, drawn from three art exhibitions inspired by mary shelley's classic novel "frankenstein". the interviews, reviews, texts and artworks examine urgent topics from climate change to digital surveillance to colonisation and pandemics. a great variety of voices are included and all the articles are engaging and readable. highly recommended!

[Carlosfelipe Pardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit I was going to give this 3 stars but I guess other people will like it a lot more than I did. It’s a good review of how technology can be seen through the prism of Frankenstein and Prometheus, and describes several exhibitions and art that present related issues (some brilliant!). But it was too long and detailed for me.