DIGITAL SUPERSTITIONS

We live in an age when technology is becoming an indistinguishable part of human existence, even as our popular understanding of it diminishes. ‘Digital Superstitions’ explores the duality of this space using the filter of Japanese history as prior cultural metaphor. Rapid industrialization of Meiji-era society meant modern scientific knowledge was in direct contact with timeless elemental folklore. The interaction of these two dissonant worlds provides a wealth of concepts through which to address modern life. 

The supernatural world of the Yokai is founded on dualities and contradictions, filtered through time that stood as explanations for the unknown. When faced with eradication through the light of science, Yokai culture survived by hybridizing its most fundamental aspects in a modern context. As a meme that embodies the uknown, this discourse is an ideal way to translate conversations on environmental and futurist concerns, post-humanism, and how culture changes through the passage of time.