Cabinet 24: Shadows

The inherently contingent physics of shadows--never things in themselves but instead always "cast" signs of other things; tangible yet insubstantial--has long been a rich source of inspiration for thinkers and artists. From the Biblical valley where humanity is stalked by the "shadow of death" to the purported supernatural phenomenon of the shadow people, the idea has always suggested forces of the unseen, of the Other, its relational quality evoking a sense a duality that haunts our supposedly integral identities. Cabinet 24 includes interviews with Michael Baxandall on the Enlightenment's attitude toward shadows and with Victor Stoichita on the battle between light and dark, Kris Lee on Comte de Silhouette and the rise of phrenology, Julia Bryan-Wilson on the perpetually shaded Swiss town of Rattenberg, Trevor Paglen on the secret patches from clandestine divisions of the U.S. Armed Forces and George Pendle on Otto Neurath and his Everyman informational figures. Artist projects include a portfolio of shadow drawings and an unwitting contribution by a celebrated artist secretly trailed by a private detective hired by Cabinet. Plus, Jocko Weyland on the AP archive; Tony Wood on Konstantin Melnikov's proposal for a collectivized Soviet dormitory system; Amelie Hastie on eating at the cinema and Daniel Handler on the color violet.