A newly launched exhibition at Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery looks at the impact technology has had on the visual language of shadow and darkness.

The image above shows some of the work on display, which places the viewer in the frame to create mysterious and ethereal art. Inspired by an existing display from the Whitworth Collection, which presented debates, ideas and the artistic notions of darkness, Dark Matters presents illusion for the technological age through cinema, computer-generated imagery and photography.

Gallery curator Helen Stalker talked to Wired.co.uk about her research for the exhibition: “The more I looked at the history of visual technology, the more the idea of people engaging with an ethereal and occasionally paranormal sense of shadow in art came across.”

The exhibition seeks to demonstrate that despite the advance of visual technology, a preoccupation with illusion and a “sense of wonderment” remains. As well as showcasing the latest in interactive art, Dark Matters harks back to the likes of photography pioneer Henry Fox Talbot, who used the camera to distort nature, capture shadows and create a new “magical visual language.” Stalker cites Maxim Gorky’s reaction to cinema and the projected image, “last night I was in the kingdom of shadows,” in reference to the exhibition.

“In a sense, the computer has replaced these old tricks of light and darkness and is what now crafts our sense of wonder and illusion,” Stalker said. “The internet has made our existence less dependent on our bodily presence and makes the boundary between truth and fantasy ever fainter.”

The concept of online personae, Stalker argues, can be understood as a “temporal shadowy presence that can exist beyond the boundaries of your own body.” The notion of creating a temporal version of self or a shadow is explored throughout the works in Dark Matters.

Check out more work from the exhibit in the Wired UK gallery.