Issue 21, with a themed section on Electricity, features historian Wolfgang Schivelbusch on how electricity came to be equated with salvation; Jennifer Gabrys on our prevalent ideas of the microwave; Christopher Turner on Franz Anton Mesmer; an interview with Sharon Beder on the economics of electricity; Sasha Archibald on the domestication of early electric lighting; and artist projects by Jason Middlebrook, Robin Collyer, and others. Articles in the unthemed section include Brian Dillon on Beau Brummell's cravats; Nato Thompson on the color yellow; Sam Burton on the greatest bank swindle of all time; and Margaret Wertheim's interview with Nicholas Gessler, a collector of early, pre-silicon computers.
Electrical Walks: Samples of Raw Sounds
Columns
- Inventory Brian Dillon
A Poet of Cloth - Object Lesson Celeste Olalquiaga
Unidentified Floating Object
Colors Nato Thompson
Yellow
Yellow
Ingestion Amelie Hastie
After Taste
After Taste
- Things that Think: An Interview with Nicholas Gessler Margaret Wertheim
The shape of pre-silicon computing - Break the Bank Sam Burton
Alves Reis and the Portuguese currency crisis
Out of the Picture Louis Kaplan
Maurice Blanchot and the refusal of photography
Maurice Blanchot and the refusal of photography
Artist Project: APL (Alaskan Pipelines) Jason Middlebrook
Tales of Desert Nomads AUDC
Quartzsite's long strange trip
Quartzsite's long strange trip
It's Just Not Cricket! Philip French
Alfred Hitchcock, the Nazis, and an all-too-British comedy duo
Alfred Hitchcock, the Nazis, and an all-too-British comedy duo
Artist Project: Approximate Original Contour Rachel Watson
The Clinical Orgasm Rachel P. Maines
A medical history of the vibrator
A medical history of the vibrator
- The Force Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Better living through electricity - Mesmeromania, or, the Tale of the Tub Christopher Turner
The therapeutic powers of animal magnetism - Invisible Cities: An Interview with Christine Kubisch Christoph Cox
The song of the machines - Blinded by the Light Sasha Archibald
The art of illumination
Driven to Fail?
The early history of the electrical vehicle
The early history of the electrical vehicle
Something for Nothing Nick Laessing
Searching for free energy in the Swiss Alps
Searching for free energy in the Swiss Alps
Volts from the Blue Steven Connor
Something in the air
Something in the air
Unlucky Strikes John R. McLain
A lightning survivor's tale, in his own words
A lightning survivor's tale, in his own words
Artist Project: Transformer Houses Robin Collyer
Appliance Theory Jennifer Gabrys
The uncanny microwave
The uncanny microwave
Absolute Power: An Interview with Sharon Beder Jeffrey Kastner
A history of global electricity markets
A history of global electricity markets
Darkness Visible: An Interview with Travis Longcore and Catherine Rich Courtney Stephens
On the ecological consequences of artificial lighting
On the ecological consequences of artificial lighting
Electricity and Allegiance Anna S. Barnett
Ebenezer Kinnersley, Benjamin Franklin, and the electrified
Ebenezer Kinnersley, Benjamin Franklin, and the electrified
The Human Telegraph Michael Sanchez
Francisco Salva's shocking invention
Francisco Salva's shocking invention
Captured Lightning Margaret Wertheim
The fractal beauty of Lichtenberg Figures
The fractal beauty of Lichtenberg Figures
Bookmark
Condensed directions for using the Drake electrical vibrator, 1922
Condensed directions for using the Drake electrical vibrator, 1922
Postcard Jasper van den Brink
Pigeons don't fly at night
Pigeons don't fly at night
