The Spectrascope
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Above. South Hill Park, Berkshire, England. Interior view.
This image was collected at the rate of a pixel every second via the internet
in vertical bands.
It depicts the 21 hours and 20 mins (approx.) leading up to Saturday 17th
September at 06.21am
Excerpt from Jeanine Griffin's essay in Haunted
Media, Site Gallery exhibition publication 2004:
Susan Collins' Spectrascope […] uses internet technology
to attempt to harness/transmit the paranormal, in a way similar to parapsychology's
attempts to verify supernatural phenomena and numerous DIY ghostwatching
sites (eg. www.ghostwatch.net).
This piece presents images from a haunted pub (www.carbrookhall.co.uk)
which are transmitted pixel by pixel to the gallery live via the internet.
The previous night is still visible on the screen the next day, and the
odd changes in light and fluctuations and inevitable 'ghosts in the machine'
create a sense of suspense. Spectrascope also creates the 'fear
frequency'. This is a frequency of 19hz which is just below the range
of hearing, but which can distort vision (including spectral images),
cause discomfort, dizziness, fear and even panic attacks and has been
found at sites of apparently haunted locations.
Reversing the usual process of parapsychological field research, the Spectrascope
offers up the technology itself as the space of haunting.
All images © susan collins 2005-8