10 Days and Nights - 10 suspended perspex lenses with back-projected video
The Mediums Glasses I & II - Photographs printed onto old pairs of glasses using traditional darkroom techniques
I was inspired to produce a series of works based on nineteenth century occult and pseudo-scientific documentary photography. During the nineteenth century it was believed that camera technology could capture the spirit world and photographs appearing to show ghosts and a range of occult phenomena were often used as "evidence" for a world that lay beyond what we could see.
Laura Marker
Laura Marker - artist
Harry Price Archive of Psychical Research: Visiting the archive 14/05/12
In 1923 Harry Price set up The National Laboratory for Psychical Research within the confines of University College London. Price set about investigating paranormal phenomenon under “strict” scientific conditions, in order to make judgements as to the authenticity of the events. Price investigated cases involving spiritual mediums, and (in many cases) unmasked cases of fraudulence using his vigorous “scientific” frameworks. Price and his colleagues compiled an extensive archive (or museum) or books, photographs and ephemera, that are still held by the University to this day.
My aim was to collate as much first hand research as possible, in order to broaden my knowledge of the kinds of equipment employed in "serious" psychical research.
Before visiting the archive I selected six files that appeared to strongly relate to my interest in the (pseudo-)scientific, including equipment and devices used in the investigation of the paranormal. I also selected two files which dealt with psychically produced photography.
The files selected included:
HPG/2/1205-1219 - Apparatus used in Investigating
HPC/2/2 - 'Facts, frauds and fallacies of psychical research'
HPG/1/2/1 - National Laboratory of Psychical Research
HPG/1/9/1 - Ghost Hunting Kit
HPG/1/11/2 - Dr P.S.Haley and Photographic Experiments
HPG/1/14/7 - Photograph Album
Harry Price Harry Price 1881-
Harry Price Archive of Psychical Research
HPG/1/14/7 - Photograph Album Containing psychic photographs. I am presented with a file that contains a photograph album (perportedly containing pychic photographs), a letter written to Harry Price from the albums owner, bequething the album and a manucript for her book geometric telepathy, and two, badly clipped, news articles from the 1930's. On the face of it the album is unremarkable looking: Slightly smaller than A4, faux leather bound cover, black pages of a similar weight to sugar paper. This proves to be a thin guise, for the contents are quite extraordinary.
