Psychic Photography v2
If someone told you that your fantasies were important, would you believe them or would you just think that fantasies are nice stories but ones that, ultimately, don't really matter in any substantial way? It's a rhetorical instance -- and a set-up for a rhetorical question: what are fantasies worth? Does it matter that we are able to imagine stories, fantasy narratives in which the rules of the real world don't really apply in the ways we're used to believing? And, does it matter that some of these stories might even be impossible -- not even remotely believable -- except that insofar as they are stories, they begin to ask us for a strange form of belief nonetheless?
Trial Image for Psychic Photography v2
In the 1960s there was a story of the impossible -- the story of a man who claimed he could project his thoughts directly onto photographic film. He wasn't alone in his belief -- and among those who refused the obvious skepticism were a psychiatrist and a camera. The story is that of Ted Serios -- psychic photographer -- a man who worked as a hotel bellhop but who also refused to be subsumed by the monotony of the everyday. Instead, Serios let his mind wander, acting out in ways both dramatic and absurd -- allowing his thoughts to be strangely recorded -- projected onto instant film. The strongest advocate for taking Serios seriously was the psychiatrist Jules Eisenbud who put Serios through a series of tests and experiments, designed to filter and channel and -- ostensibly -- prove the abilities that Serios claimed. It should come as no surprise however that proof was not forthcoming -- but that is not to say that proof was not offered. Serios, to his credit, produced regular (if not repeatable) examples of psychic manifestation -- instanced as images appearing on Polaroid film.
Psychic Photography v2 is a speculative project, loosely based on experiments conducted by Ted Serios and documented by psychiatrist Jule Eisenbud in his text The World of Ted Serios: 'Thoughtographic' Studies of an Extraordinary Mind. In the attempt to bring participatory inquiry to the experiment, the project is conceived as a forum for engagement with the concept of psychic imaging, from which image archives will be generated. Participants will be recruited to perform a basic exercise in thought-generated imagery, according to a series of simple instructions. The project method is loosely conceived in relation to the experiments conducted by Serios and Eisenbud, simplified somewhat for accessibility. Rather than using hidden "target" images such as those that Serios was prompted to imagine, the project will employ user-generated targets -- simple shapes drawn on sketchbook paper and used as visualization prompts for participants. Participants will be asked to spend roughly 10 minutes visualizing and imagining the target, at which time a photograph of their forehead will be taken. The photograph and the drawing will be retained as project content.
It is also worth mentioning that the project is not itself a test of psychic ability, but a forum for speculative engagement. The general framework is designed to remain ambivalent on the truth or reality of psychic phenomena, asking only for participatory engagement from which no firm conclusions will be drawn. In this, the project is as much a catalyst for the imaginations of others as it is a concerted framing of the questions of impossibility in terms of plausible methods for inquiry.