speculum rotarius (electronic ghosts)

Text from exhibition Hzchen at Berg26 17.03.10 - 01.04.10 (http://www.berg26.net & http://berg26.blogspot.com/)

speculum rotarius (Electronic Ghosts)

Electronic Ghosts

A sound installation for two rotating mirrors, two loudspeakers, light sources, an interactive psychical system via the software EVP maker and computer.

The installation Electronic Ghosts uses modern methods of EVP researchers, specifically the 'Speech Synthesis Method', such as that developed by German EVP researcher and software designer Stefan Bion. In this method, the spiritual entity is given auditive 'aids' of raw audio material, which by influencing these, can subsequently form words with which to communicate with living beings.

The software EVPmaker gives the EVP researcher options as to how they obtain their EVP recordings, one option is to use the program to arbitrarily cut-up and randomise segments of a sound file to build the raw audio material suitable for EVP. (see diagram) Alternatively and more correctly, Bion suggests the creation and use of a set of phonemes, containing every sound element of a given language upon which the random number generator acts and a raw material which is not speech (just phonemes), can be used to synthesize speech, thus aiding communication with etheric beings. The EVP researcher can choose the source of the random number generation such as Pseudo Random Number Generator (Pseudo RNG), Fractal equation or an Internet service.

The physical set-up of the installation can be viewed as an experiment in the aesthetics of disappearance. Where the nature of visual reflections and the phenomenology of the eye have been contrasted with the nature of acoustic reflections and the phenomenology of the ear in this thesis, the rotating mirror is taken as an attempt to readdress the notion of disappearance. By paralleling the visual and acoustic reflection by placing the speaker facing towards the rotating mirror, where the visitor will also stand, the disappearance and reappearance of both these acoustic and visual reflections is an attempt to treat them equally, in spite of the obvious phenomenological differences.

Auditive material has been sourced exclusively from samples of Michael Jackson. The installation is proposed to function on two levels; for believers of EVP, it is intended that a psychic interaction takes place between the sample of Michael Jackson, via the EVP maker and method of speech synthesis, and the spirit of Michael Jackson. Those with hearing tuned to identify EVP may make out words, phrases or messages from the now deceased Michael Jackson and may thus be able to communicate with his disembodied spirit.

For sceptics of the paranormal, the installation can function as an experiment of psychological projection as outlined in Joe Banks' concept of "Rorschach Audio" or auditory illusions akin to those of Diana Deutsch, as the visitor can attempt or resist the formation of sounds into words with varying meaning. The nature of human perception as "unconscious inductive inferences" (Helmholtz) can be emphasised by this process, in which the ears and brain draw on experience and psychological projection to hypothesise our conception of reality.



Video & audio documentation coming soon...

Spiricom

"From 1979 to 1982, George Meek and Bill O'Neil developed a device they dubbed the “Spiricom” (short for spirit communication). The Spiricom was a set of 13 tone generators spanning the frequency range of the adult male voice."

Taken from: http://www.angelsghosts.com/spiricom.html

MJ Speaks ?

MJ speaks by wivvhoom

"An experiment with EVPmaker for windows. Using methods and software developed by EVP researcher Stefan Bion and following the basic principles of the speech synthesis method of EVP research, I have attempted to make contact with the ghost of Michael Jackson. This is one of my first attempts"

Speech synthesis method of EVP

Stefan Bion's homepage which aims "Einblicke zu gewähren in Vorgänge, die normalerweise im Verborgenen liegen". He has made several free software programs for windows to download with the aim of generating EVP recordings by providing the raw material to act as a carrier for the voices, "paranormal transformations of the raw material".

Here is the manual to the software EVPMaker:
http://www.stefanbion.de/evpmaker/evpmaker.htm

This method is inspired by the statement of former president of the German Association for Transcommunication Research Fidelio Köberle (Vereins für Transkommunikations-Forschung (VTF)e.V.) in 1988 -

"[...] ein künstlich hergestelltes Rohmaterial zur Verfügung zu stellen, etwa analog dem bereits vielfach benutzten Wasserplätschern oder dem Geräusch bei der Reibemethode (Struck). Ideal könnte sein ein synthetisch laufend hergestelltes Rohmaterial, das der Sprache so nah wie möglich kommt. So nah wie möglich deshalb, um den Gesprächspartnern auf der anderen Seite zu erlauben, mit möglichst geringem Energieaufwand daraus echte Sprache zu machen. Geringer Energieaufwand deshalb, weil wir wissen, daß es dann am besten funktioniert (siehe Umformungen). Das Material dürfte natürlich noch keine Sprache sein, sich aber leicht in sinnvolle Sprache verwandeln lassen. Es müßte ohne Periodizität sprudeln. Es sollte Pausen enthalten, wie normales Sprechen auch. Ohne Einsatz von Zufallsgeneratoren für die Variation von Ton und Pausen wird man nicht auskommen. [...]"

(eng translation):
"[...] to provide an artificially generated raw material, like for instance the often used noise from rippling water or Struck's "rubbing method". Ideal could be a continuously produced synthetic raw material which comes as close to speech as possible. As close as possible in order to allow the interlocutors on the other side to form real speech from it using as little energy as possible. Little energy, because we know that this works best (see transformations). The raw material must of course not already be speech but should be transformed into reasonable speech easily. It should bubble without periodicity. It should, like usual speech, contain pauses. Without the use of random generators this won't be managed. [...]"

[source: [1] Source: VTF-Post P 51, issue 2/88 - 1.4.1988, page 42]

Stefan Bion decided to use a 'real' random number generator for the focus of potential paranormal influences, with each random number assigned to a certain phoneme of the German language. "With a little practice, the originators of the voices should be able to synthesize their messages by influencing the RNG mentally..."

Disinformation

I came across the work of Joe Banks, a London sound artist who has engaged with EVP in his work, and discovered many interesting works of his, including this video piece dealing with JG Ballard's The Sound Sweep.

His work on Rorschach Audio attempts to explain the phenomenon of EVP using relevant psychoacoustic and psychological explainations, a sort of auditive Gestalt theory which is a highly interesting research area for auditive phenomenology.

More links to his work on 'rorschach Audio' under Links.

Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)

Links:

http://www.worlditc.org/c_03_raudive_break_first.htm

http://www.aaevp.com/

http://www.tonbandstimmen.de/index_e.htm