Reanimating the Anortho-Phenakistiscope: Experimental Media Archaeology as a Framework for Artistic Research

This article reflects on the reanimation of Joseph Plateau’s little-studied anortho-phenakistiscope (c. 1844–1849) as an entangled process of reconstruction, experimentation and artistic reimagination. Because the apparatus itself has not survived — leaving only Plateau’s 1849 description and two surviving image discs — its perceptual effects remain partly indeterminate. Informed by experimental media archaeology, a hybrid analogue–digital setup allowed our research team to interrogate the apparatus materially, vary parameters, and probe for emergent affordances through hands-on experimentation. These findings, in turn, informed an artistic research trajectory that foregrounds luminous display, spatial viewing conditions, and material presence, while complicating linear ‘pre-cinema’ narratives. We incorporated 3D-printed lithophanes as an anachronistic exploration of relief-based animation, reconfiguring the device as a luminous media installation. We propose circuitous epistemology (iterative loops of making, testing, and reflection) and bidirectional remediation (a two-way oscillation between past media and contemporary tools) as frameworks that connect historical inquiry with artistic research.

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