Sound Library
Art After Death
Conversations with the Countess of Castiglione - CD
In Conversations with the Countess of Castiglione, we interview the notorious Second Empire femme fatale who produced hundreds of photographic self-portraits between 1855-1895. The cd’s liner notes include examples of these photographs, biographical details, and a discussion of the methods and practice employed in channeling the Countess.
In an effort to explore some of the meanings suggested by the Countess of Castiglione’s complex and daring work, we conducted four interviews with her via spirit mediums. Using a practice known as channeling, the countess’s spirit was invited to speak through the physical body of a living person. The resulting recordings document our encounters with the Countess, who conversed with us about love, photography, aging, celebrity, and life after death.
Each spirit medium’s method of channeling and style of relating to their clients is highly individual. In one case, we were guided by the medium through a meditation and ‘grounding’ period to begin the sˇance. In another we all held hands during the entire meeting, and in still another the medium called upon a spirit guide to speak to the countess for her, relaying the information to us through that guide. We met in private homes as well as retail businesses. Given these differences, we attempted to make our approach as consistent as possible: at the beginning of each sˇance, we showed the medium a single photograph of the Countess and gave her dates and her full name, Virginia Verasis. Once the Countess had been contacted, we posed the same questions to her each time.