Telectroscope

Telectroscope

“Hardly anyone knows that a secret tunnel runs deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2008, more than a century after it was begun, the tunnel will finally be completed. Immediately afterwards, an extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope will be installed at both ends which will miraculously allow people to see right through the Earth from London to New York and vice versa.”

So the story goes for the Telectroscope, an installation by artist Paul St George.

“Some years ago an artist by the name of Paul St George happened upon a packet of dusty papers in a trunk in his grandmother’s attic. On further inspection he discovered that they had been the property of his great-grandfather, an eccentric Victorian engineer, Alexander Stanhope St George.”

This tunnel would allow you to see all the way to New York from London without having to go anywhere.

telectroscope
Photos by Billy Abbott

Of course the device doesn’t quite work like that & obviously uses a video camera, broadband link & screen, but that doesn’t matter. Its about the magic & wonder for the public. Its about making a connection with a stranger on the other side of the world & the unexpected behavior of the people using it.

[update] “In each Telectroscope is a Sony EX1 camera, the visual from which was encoded using Breeze Technologies Ice Blue capture cards and converted in to a MPEG 2 stream to be delivered across the Tiscali Virtual Private Network to the opposite projector (Sanyo XT-10) .” -> Twofourdigital (thanks Adam)

telectroscope
Photo by boncey

In London it costs £1 to look down the ‘tunnel’, although free in New York, the payment action is a continuation of the experience.

Brought to us by the excellent Artichoke. Budget around £400,000 (government grants and private sponsorship).

Available to go and see in London and New York until June 15 2008.

More photos on Flickr

telectroscope
Photo by AntonioA

Posted on May 23rd 2008 under Installations