Electricity possesses a unique physicality in that it is inextricable from matter.
It is involved in many bodily functions. Electricity pumps our hearts, and powers our brains. During the eighteenth century, a belief system known as electrical theology arose. According to electrical theology, god is synonymous with electricity, and to be alive is to be in an electrified state.
This belief persists within certain medical practices as well as the legal definition of brain dead in the United States.
Electrical theology was also reinforced in literature through its converse: Frankenstein's monster was reanimated via electricity, for example.
In its many applications, electricity has replaced the human body in industry. Furthermore, it has mediated our sensual experiences in many ways. Many electrical apparatuses are utilized in the experiencing of works of art (film, recorded music,web/interactive media).
(The above is paraphrased from "The Force" by Wolfgang Schivelbusch Issue 21 of Cabinet Magazine)
It is understood that our nervous systems transmit signals via electricity. Therefore, electricity not only mediates our experience. Electricity is our experience. (ontological debates to follow)
In recognizing this fact, it follows that electrical apparatuses are not only extensions of the body, but act as doubles: Freud's uncanny: an other, which, like the soul, is invented to stave off eternal death.
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