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In Unmarked, Phelan initially defines the immaterial as ‘that which is not “really” there, that which cannot be surveyed within the boundaries of a putative real.’ (1993: 1) While this is a somewhat vague beginning definition, she goes on to name the immaterial as ‘what cannot be reproduced within the ideology of the visible’ which she understand to be the dominant cultural mode of representation. In a sense then, immateriality is characterised in terms of an absence from visual representation - the unmarked. Does Phelan, therefore, imply that presence in contemporary culture is equated with visibility (with the signifier and with the image)?
Phelan also discusses immateriality with reference to capitalism. She asks - arguably somewhat naively if we take on the notion of immaterial labour - 'What would it take to value the immaterial within a culture structured around the equation “material equals value”?’ (1993: 5) and later states, ‘the production and reproduction of visibility are part of the labor of the reproduction of capitalism.’ (1993: 11)