If something is absent, it is not present. However, when something is described as absent, this implies that it was present, or existed, at some point in the past or future, or in another place. In the case of phantoms, though, it may also refer to the absence of something that has never been present. This points towards the fictional aspect of phantoms.


Spelling absence as absense suggests that, in addition to meaning 'something is lacking', it also means a lack of sense, a loss of meaning or a state of being cut off from your senses.

This constitutes an additional potential interpretation of the phantom within the framework of this project.

In the context of this project, the word phantom signifies an absence – of content, of order, of time.


Byund-Chul Han wrote a book on absence, originally titled Abwesen: this German neologism creates an opposite to Wesen – essence. Han argues that, unlike Western philosophy, Far Eastern thought is centred not on essence but on absence. He describes absence as something that withdraws and recedes, but, and this is the compelling point in his thoughts, it does not leave a vacuum. On the contrary, it creates more space, more time and more world. The space expands into the absence of the essence – or the ego, as an important carrier of the idea of Wesen (Han 2007).


As a teenager, I experienced absences, which were short episodes involving a loss of consciousness and collapse of the body. I remember the blackness of the mind and the struggle to regain consciousness, to crawl out of the dark hole and be part of the outside world again. But it was not just darkness. Although the actual duration of the absences was a matter of minutes, I perceived them either as taking zero time or as long journeys lasting hours, even days. During the journey-like episodes, I experienced an expansion of time and space, accompanied by a loss of self, of the essence of my identity. This was similar to what Han describes: As the ego receded, the world inside me expanded. But the vastness was hard to digest. Afterwards, I often experienced severe nausea and a state of disorientation. It took some time to feel 'like myself' again.

 

 

ab/sence ab/sense