Olivia Plender

A Stellar Key to the Summerland

British artist Olivia Plender’s work is based in historical research, finding idiosyncratic and little-known events, “peculiar pockets of forgotten history that sit awkwardly with the way we live now,” as one observer comments. Her new graphic novel takes us to another of those pockets, the Modern Spiritualist Movement, which began in 1848, a heady mixture of non-conformist religion, politics and popular entertainment presented as a scientific response to the newly industrialized world. The movement’s working-class base linked it to political campaigns, particularly the anti-slavery movement and the campaign for women’s suffrage. By acting as mediums, women found a unique opportunity to give political speeches – in the guise of channeling a spirit – without transgressing social boundaries. Plender, who was a participant in the 2006 Tate Triennial, mimics the techniques of 19th-century pamphlets and combines spiritualist ephemera with interviews in this absorbing work. Part of Book Works Singular Sociology Series.

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