Telectroscope

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/telectroscope/home.php

Have you heard of the Telectroscope? It is a phenomenal site specific project completed by Paul St. George (a more British name could not be found) that has been installed in both London and New York. And it is the closest thing i can get right now to being in London.

The story the artist tells on the website, may or may not be true, but here is what i hav e read so far: It apparently all started with drawings by St George's grandfather depicting a tunnel system that would connect New York and London, two of the greatest cities in the world, using an optical device that would magnify each end. The end result would enable people in each country to see citizens of the other as they passed by and glanced into the lens. I believe his grandfather actually attempted to create this, but the ocean floor collapsed as they tried to tunnel. I am not sure how far they got, because i have not gotten a chance to read it all. I just got excited and wanted to share this before i forgot . :)

Near the Brooklyn Bridge there emerges from the ground a large brassy telescopic-looking device with a lens you can look straight into. Instead of simply seeing a reflection of your face, you can see the faces of Brits doing the same thing, for an identical structure is found near the Tower Bridge in London. It seems as though through a series of fiber optics, or some sort of crazy optical device, you can actually see the other end of the Telectroscope. Thus if you arranged a meeting time, you could theoretically communicate face to face with a friend across the world.

Yes, i know you can do this easily at home through a webcam. What's the big deal, you say? Infinitely greater than simple technology is the idea that you can see another country, another nation of people you have not met, and experience art and a moment of your day with them. Imagine looking at a painting; when someone ambles up next to you to look at the same work of art. Immediately an unacknowledged, probably undetected, connection is made between you and this person beside you. Now what if you have been incorporated into the art itself? You are not only sharing in a moment with this person because you are looking at art together; you are the art. This forces each person who looks into this Telectroscope to give 1, 5, maybe 15 minutes of their attention and their life, to someone they probably would have just callously bumped into on the street without so much as an apology. You are invited to partake in and enjoy a chance encounter with strangers from another part of the world.

This is the one of the greatest site specific works of art that i have heard of to date, though the slides in the Tate Modern were fun. It does exactly what art should do, in a very clever, fantastic (as in fantasy) way. If you live in London or in New York, take some time to open your eyes to the Telectroscope and see new people. Maybe you will make a friend.

Now then, any friends want to go with me to enjoy this before June 15th?