My work centers around the ancient Western esoteric concept of the egregore and its continued relevance in contemporary life. The egregore is a nonphysical entity that arises from a group with a shared focus or goal. This entity, however, is independent of its constituent participants and holds influence over them, producing a feedback loop relationship where the creation alters the creators, thus altering itself, all the while remaining detached. This kind of relationship describes many entities at the center of spiritual traditions, from gods, angels, and spirits. However, it also perfectly describes such modern entities as corporations, memes, and algorithms. These new entities have the potential to be wild and beautiful, such as the ones at the center of niche online subcultures, but they also have the potential to be harmful and exploited for mass manipulation in service to governments and techno-capitalist interests. In my work, I investigate these new egregores and recontextualize them through various processes and tools, including experimental animation, interactive virtual reality, sound, and online interventions, and dirt to reevaluate our post-Enlightenment assumptions about technology and ritual.
