“Franz
Anton Mesmer called it animal magnetism; Charles von Reichenbach
called it odyle. To Henri Bergson it was the elan vital, the "vital
force;" while to Hans Driesch it was the entelechy . Sigmund
Freud observed its functioning in human emotions and termed it
libido. William MacDougall, the great British - American psychologist
of a generation ago, labeled it hormic energy. Dozens, if not
hundreds, of lesser - known scientists have recognized its presence
and have given it a name to characterize its special properties.
Among the 20th-century proponents of the concept are, for example,
Doctors Charles Littlefield and his vital magnetism and George Starr
White and his cosmo-electric energy . Mechanistic science in the 17th
through 19th centuries embraced many of its essential qualities in
the concept of the ether, while mystical human beings have embraced
other essential qualities of it in the concept of god. Orgone energy
is Wilhelm Reich's name for the substratum from which all nature is
created. The best definition this author can provide for it is this:
Orgone energy is the creative force in nature.”
Charles
R. Kelley
WHAT
IS ORGONE ENERGY
Wilhelm
Reich's theory of orgone energy and his related psychoanalytic
practice made him a controversial figure during his lifetime.
Particularly his theories about human sexuality and his unusual
methods of therapy (such as the Orgone Accumulator) made him a target
for attack by conservatives in 1930s and 1940s America. Drawing on
Freud's “libido”, orgone energy took the function of the human
orgasm to be a primary energetic force of life. Though his books were
burned and he was imprisoned at the end of life, his theories were
given new prominence with writers such as William Burroughs and Jack
Kerouac, later being crowned the father of the sexual revolution and
an important figure in the Free Love/Sex-Positive movements of the
1960s and 1970s.
Today,
many issues of sexuality remain largely taboo in mainstream culture
and where Reich's theories clashed with scientific proof and
mainstream medicinal practice, there remain many fascinating aspects
to his thought. For the exhibition, “Klangstaetten, stadtklänge –
Zwischen Puff und Kloster” the work “electromagnetic microcosm”
offers itself as a reinterpretation of this mysterious “life
energy”. The historic red-light district of Braunschweig is for
some perhaps an unrefined area of the city, but its mere existence is
a geographical reminder of basic human sexuality. Though Reich was
explicit that Orgone Energy was not linked to electromagnetism, there
appears currently to be no other methods of measuring or detecting a
possible “life energy”. There are however, many various theories
concerning electromagnetic fields which throw particularly intriguing
questions on how they effect human consciousness.
Many
believe electromagnetic fields have adverse effects on the human body
and brain and even extensive research by the World Health
Organisation has been unsuccessful in either confirming or refuting
the risk of EMFs on human health. The internal or endogenous
electromagnetic field of the human brain, made up of approximately
100 billion electrical neurones, has been speculated to be
susceptible to influences of external electromagnetic fields.
Extremely Low Frequency waves (ELF), particularly those under 20Hz
are considered to be of particular significance. Delta (up to 4Hz),
Theta (4-8Hz) and Alpha (8-13Hz) waves are known in the brain to be
present in states such as slow-wave sleep, drowsiness or arousal and
states of coma respectively. The effect of externally produced ELFs
on our brains acting on our health or behaviour may sound like the
warnings of paranoiacs or conspiracy theories but it remains a
question which modern scientific research cannot yet conclusively
answer.
The
work “electromagnetic microcosm” is therefore an experiment and a
gesture, making some of the electromagnetic fields of our immediate
surroundings visible and audible. The postulated link between the
“life force” and electromagnetic fields is of an experimental
nature, serving as a reminder of the unknown in scientific discourse,
as a story which is constantly being re-written.
At Allgemeiner Konsumverein
As part of klangstaetten | stadtklaenge -
›Zwischen Puff und Kloster‹
Internationale Klangkunst in Braunschweig
3. bis 21. Oktober 2012
Curated by Sam Auinger, initiated & organised by Dr. Anne Mueller von der Haegen
