Ghosts
Are ghosts real? You will have to ask a philosopher, a neuroscientist, or a theologian that question - as an archeologist, I am staying well out of it.
Luckily for my research, it really does not matter how real ghosts are. The important thing is that people experience haunted objects differently. The perception that physical matter is imbued with the power of the dead has real-world impacts: it makes hairs stand on end, it lowers real-estate values, and it increases museum attendance. Even non-believers have been known to interact with "haunted" material more gingerly than more mundane matter.
We can explore this immaterial experience of objects by modeling them with ghosts and spirits. As images of subjective and invisible things, these models will inevitably draw from the imagination of the artist. Yet by making the invisible visible, we can begin to explore the many sensory experiences of objects that are entirely relative and culturally constructed.
Spirits, ghosts, and monsters
Sensorial experiences of "otherworldly presences" often appear in pop-culture media representations of heritage. Moreover, many heritage professionals and museum patrons report uncanny experiences of objects. It is a subjective, personal, even hallucinatory experience, but one which artistic renderings are particularly able to explore.
Image of a piece of heirloom costume jewelry, modelled with different pop-culture representations of spirits.
Image of DDA Simpson's Vessel 57 modeled with ghostly apparitions.
Spirit Photography
These photos draw from the photographic style of William Mumler's Spirit photography. Though he claimed (erroneously) that he was photographing the dead, his images, as well as the ones below, were the result of photographic manipulation.
Ghost Orbs
Ghost photography in the modern era frequently relies on "ghost orbs" as proof of the presence of spirits. Though traditional ghost orbs are usually the result of lens flare, the orbs in these photos were added in a photo editing software.