Transcending Mediums: Spirit Channeling, Creative Practice, and Media in the Seth Material
Publication information:
Abstract
Spirit channeling is an inherently creative practice, mixing alternative spirituality, performance, and media-making. The 20th century’s most celebrated spirit channelers were multidisciplinary creators, perhaps best exemplified by Jane Roberts and Robert Butts in the Seth Material. This body of work, attributed to the non-physical entity Seth, emerged from a dynamic interplay of performance, poetics, and recorded audio. As Roberts channeled Seth, and Butts documented the sessions, they collaboratively created a complex, transmedia archive that continues to inspire. This paper explores the Seth Material as a case study in channeling as hybrid artistic practice, bridging alternative spirituality and critical media.
Presenter Biography
Christopher Michael Hansen is an artist, writer, and scholar interested in the intersections of alternative spirituality and contemporary media practices. Currently he is pursuing his PhD with the University at Buffalo’s Department of Media Study, where his work focuses on spirit channelers, mediumship, and Spiritualism through an anti-disciplinary lens.