Ausgang 96: Thomas Helmut Bock: Stories Séancen Virtuelles Kabinett


bock-laboratory
	Stories Séances Virtual Cabinet
1. The beginning of stories Telling stories - putting together different layers - layering them over and under each other and telling the newly created layer as an entire story. As a child I was never interested in bedtime stories. Perhaps because no-one ever told me one, neither my grandma nor my parents. At that time I stood on my own two feet and I didn' t know anything about the possibility of poetic variations. For me there was only one story, namely mine - what I was doing at this time. In the present I lived with the past and always looked for a short moment in the future. That means in the morning I would look forward to the afternoon, and in the afternoon the evening. That was the extent of my look into the future. I lived, therefore, in the past, and that, naturally, is not especially helpful for making up stories, which are, for the most part, formulated and molded in the past. Stories are similar to dreams... The melting of experiences, saved feelings, and an individual view of things through the dreamer (or teller) makes possible the interpretation of the story (the dream) with the individual associations of the listener (the dreamer). Story € Storyteller € Listener Sometimes I dream about time travel - the travel into a ... A journey through time would accent the necessity for one's own existence. The story of Man wouldn't need to be rewritten, rather the present in which I existed would turn itself into a fiction. Nevertheless, I prefer traveling in the past to allowing myself a look towards the future. Time travel € future € fiction It is a kind of fiction that had one organized particular facts or circumstances in another way, the future and the present moment would appear differently. In the age of electronic media, history and stories have multiplied themselves over and over. They flicker on screens and monitors, but also on the printed page and in books. From storyteller to multiple pressings. The storyteller is no longer conceived for a single listener, but rather for an entire audience and crowds of viewers. The psychological influence of the stories have fundamentally altered themselves. The storybook heroes have turned into folk heroes. They are ideals and idols for the masses. Mental Artworks Our entire humanistic cultural heritage has grown through the stringing together of stories: "Worth telling" were unusual events and situations that separate themselves from the every day. The first recorded stories talked about hunting successes or elaborated religious rituals. Meanwhile, I love stories. Sometimes I see myself as a modern urban pirate, other times as a toreador, who successfully defeats a five hundred kilogram bull. The public loves its hero and I the public. Ge/schich/ten/er/zäh/ler, der: jmd. der Geschichten erzählt Ge/schicht/e, die: mündliche od. schriftliche, in einen logischen Handlungsablauf gebrachte Schilderung eines tatsächlichen oder erdachten Geschehens, Ereignisses I use photography as presentation medium for my stories. An accidental medium that submits to the foreseeable physical laws and at the same time allows an individual visual language and intention. With the possibilities to stage an image and the technical possibilities for working the image in the laboratory, I produce photographs that visualize my concepts.
		€€€ Advertisement €€€ NELSON¼S REALISTIC RAPPING SKULL A beautiful thing in a gruesome way! The Nelson Realistic Skull has been designed to look like a real skull - the features, design and coloring is perfect. Beautifully made of heavy composition, and slightly over-size so that it can be seen in the largest of theatres. Moveable jaw. Movement of the jaw is activated by a simple thread arrangement, so that the jaw opens and closes to answer questions. May be operated on a plate of glass between two chairs, then pass it for examination! This sterling spiritualistic effect is now heightened by the terrific design of the skull. It is so life-like - pardon - DEATH-LIKE that it will give your audience the creeps. A special weird patter story included. A terriffic display item on stage or in your den. Fine for advertising display for ghost shows. We are greatly enthused over this fine skull, which must be seen to be really appreciated. Price only.................................$15.00
At the turn of the century it was common to have "scientific" discussions about spiritual appearances and paranormal experiences. There were many (similar to today's weekly magazines) magazines, the "insiders" of the so-called state of affairs, for example reports of spiritual appearances. The change of the economy into the industrial age, bound together with the growing consumer needs, extended a new definition of the human state into the sphere of the superhuman and supernatural. For professional photographers this was a welcome moneymaker and breaking up of the monotony of their earlier, sad, darkroom days. Before the time of digital image manipulation and simulation, much work by hand with retouching brush and dodger was necessary. Photography still had the responsibility of trustworthy representation, fortunate media which did what was necessary, and often the initiates saw what they had always wanted to see. The medium photography was willingly taken in by the "bourgeois business community", which had available capital, as an excellent form of evidence and as pictorial document. A flourishing evidence business developed.
		2. Séances, Supernatural Image Design and Telepathic Photos Ever since humans have thought there have been paranormal phenomena that are produced through adroit mental deceptions. Deceptions can also be used in the service of the public welfare, as practiced in rituals and special ceremonies. In former times a man could, more than the current man, through particular collective rituals, gather and concentrate his psychic willpower to strive towards a goal: Hunter - Hunted, Wars and Territorial Expansion. To achieve this goal, one had to insure the protection and the blessing of holy and/or demonic beings, win their goodwill and agreement, and experience omens, often through magic or paranormal phenomena. The basics of the art of deception: Erscheinen - Appearance Verschwinden - Disappearance Bewegung - Transposition Verwandlung - Transformation Durchdringung - Penetration Wiederherstellung - Restoration Bewegung - Animation Levitation - Levitation Schweben - Anti-Gravity magnetische Anziehung - magnetic attraction Unverwundbarkeit - Invulnerability Kontrolle - Control Wiederfinden - Identification Gedankenlesen - Thought-Reading Gedankenübertragung - Thought-Transmission Vorhersage - Prediction Außersinnliche Wahrnehmung - ESP As opposed to wizards and magicians, the medium plays a seemingly passive roll in the séance, and with the help of those present allows the appearances of visitations and materializations. In any case, the public plays an active roll in the presentation in both situations. Some ground rolls of the art of deception (after: M. Decremps; Testament de Jérôme Sharp; 1788): 1. Never give away what you are about to do, so that the spectators who already know the trick have no time to see how it' s done. 2. Be sure to master your art in many ways in case one of your secrets comes out. 3. Never show the same thing twice, because doing so breaks the first rule in that the viewer already knows the trick. 4. When someone asks you to show the trick again, never refuse directly while that would show the weakness of your tools. Promise, however, to repeat the trick in another form, and show a different one which is directly or indirectly related to the first. This ruse is always successful. 5. If you only perform slight-of-hand, the viewer can copy your movement and possibly uncover its purpose. Therefore vary what you show between slight-of-hand, combinations, physical tricks, etc., so that the viewer loses their orientation. 6. Never show a trick for which you have no prepared answers should someone ask you a valid question. I say valid while the others, more meaningless, are not important. 7. Take advantage of all accidental events, which often occur. But there are a few people who understand how to profit from this.
€€€ Advertisement €€€ INSTANTANEOUS GHOST An eye-popper! Can you imagine yourself and guests seated in a seance room, or attending a spook show, and without warning or alarm, a ghost instantly appears. This instantaneous appearance of a ghost is as startling as it is realistic. In a flash, and from no where - a GHOST, who goes thru the usual antics, moving all about the room or stage, high and low, over the heads of the audience, dancing, swaying - and in another flash, it¼s gone! Will start a riot at any ghost gathering. Realistic appearance, with upraised hand. Treated with our long lasting Ghost-Glo paint, so constructed as to be unbreakable and easy to operate. Rolls into small package. Almost six feet tall. As good as it sounds. Price (No. 332) ................................$2.00
		Through the apparently scientific form of presentation, the aim retains a universally acceptable character. That means the "every man", or every participant in the séance, will immediately accept the spiritual event, and with a certain kind of universal appreciation. It always takes some time before the medium's fraud, created by the seance participants and the parascientific visions, can be exposed. The spiritual visions were a temporary form. They left no trail behind. Only the visual materialization of the summoned spirits would be documented. There were singular attempts to document the successful running of a seance with other means. For example the hand print of a ghost, immortalized in plaster. This impression was soon publicized as the hand of the assistant of the seance leader and host. Or the attempt to bring a scientific causality in parapsychological experiments with the misleading assistance of film and slide protections ( Cinematographies), ghost props, ectoplasm, consciousness expanding drugs, etc. But to publicize the esoteric findings, truthful documentation was necessary, at least convincing enough to meet the expectations, in both their public and lucrative aspects, of the "ghost producers". And again remains only photography. In the age of the photographic long exposure (a low light recording always required many seconds of film exposure) appeared the main motive, namely the restless ghost as very calm, often coolly and properly fitting into the staged construction. The result was a multitude of sharply imaged and detailed ghosts. The comparison of the appearance with formerly living people was not far behind. An intensive investigation of ancestors and genealogy began. The belief in communication with a dead family member or a person who was close roused the emotions and raised an endless demand for seances. But only for a short time.
€€€ Advertisement €€€ ECTOPLASM Weird, vapory apparitions are produced by the apparatus we include with this effect. The medium is securely bound and tied to an unprepared chair. The lights are extinguished, and spectators await the first manifestation. At first, only a point of bluish light will be observed, which grows in size, and assumes various shapes and positions about the medium. Ectoplasm is supposed to emanate from the body and the effect is faithfully reproduced. Ligths turned on, flakes of white matter will be found on the medium¼s lips, who remains securely tied, and upon examination, ropes, knots, etc. will be found to have been untampered. Easy to present, and requires only a few seconds preparation. Productive of wonderful results, and positively nothing dangerous, as no chemicals or electricity is used. Adds the final touch to all forms of spiritualistic work in the seance room. Complete ............................................$3.00
		The fraud was brought to day and was lost in the light of scientifically enlightened industrial society. The end of spiritual communication was foreseeable and directed towards exploitation on the melting ice of isolation. The possibility of a carry-over from electronic rays on a tube generated an entirely new form of seance. On TV via transmission. But no longer in the foreground was communication with various family members, rather the proximity to movie stars. Seance: spiritual meeting with a medium
	3. Virtual Cabinet bock-Laboratorium The bock-laboratory was founded in 1995. Scientific thoroughness, generally acceptable validities, distortion of the senses and collective influences - all these are the terms, and more than that an empirical concern, on which the laboratory builds the examinations and collections. In the age of the growing information flood, the analysis of things in detail is more important then ever before. The considerations begin there where others simply pass over ... The change from information gathering to information selection is not to be underestimated. Contemporary validities and physical laws often appear in comparison to former structures as a further developed rudiment which took the reins in the hand and strove towards the goal. But the considerations are without the necessity of imbalancing the humanistic evolution. State of Research and Development The bourgeois tendencies of society in the last century generated great necessity for individual definition and self-representation. Former times are simpler to analyze than the present. History is closed, the present is a permanent expansion. Experiments require the intrusion in a system that should stand aside, autonomous from the experimenter. Otherwise the searching becomes self-searching. The present has made itself independent through specialization. There are only temporary and partial views off the events. Goals The laboratory was founded for the intensive research of the inaccessible perception of the human senses. A definition of societal reality doesn't occur here. The parallel views of the present and the historical events fit into an empirical development. Naturally errors and insufficient experimental conditions cannot be ruled out. But these, if recognized, can be taken into consideration in the examination process. Ways of documentation, presentation an archiving The classical documentation medium of photography has, in my opinion, currently the goal to be objective. The continuation of examination with the tools of filmic presentation is surely an addition to the previously static visualization possibilities of the photographic still image. My presentation concerns itself, as always, with the content context. As experiments require for the most part a material laboratory, I have included the apparatus in the presentation for visualization. Archiving does not occur as the available material should be reused for future projects. The presentation is a momentary state in which later changes are not ruled out. There are always newer results to be expected.
€€€ Advertisement €€€ 390 SPIRIT VOICES - - TRUMPET MANIFESTATIONS Ever hear a spirit a-talking? Imagine, if you can, attending a spirit seance - taking your own trumpet and never allowing it to leave your hands - yet, placing it to your ear and distinctly hearing strange, unearthly voices actually issue from the trumpet! Never before have mediums or magicians been able to duplicate this great spiritualistic feat. And in bright light, too! The strange هspirit voices¼, calling the spectators by name and bearing messages are actually heard thru the spectator¼s own trumpets, and while the trumpets are held in their own hands. The trumpets are totally unprepared and may be brought by the spectators - or formed from ordinary sheets of cardboard! The performer need never actually touch the trumpets or spectators, and his mouth may be gagged and bound to make speech actually impossible. These weird voices, bearing messages, can be caused to be heard by spectators without the use of trumpets if desired, and in various parts of the room! It¼s uncanny - unreal, yet easily accomplished by the use of the New Secret Invention and ordinary trumpets. Here is the supreme pseudo manifestation - the goal of most mediums and magicians. This is but one of the many possibilities offered by the New Secret Invention. Listen to the هSpirit Voices¼ .................$23.00
	THE JOY OF GASTROENTERLOGY Have you ever had a colonoscopic examination? They snake this fiber obtic tube through your intestines. It doesn¼t hurt - they give you Demerol and Valium in an IV - and they have a video camera on the end of this snake so you can watch the whole thing. It¼s a weird experience, lying there, high on Demerol and Valium, watching this TV screen with your intestines - probably the most introspective view of yourself you¼ll ever have. No kidding, you should have one done, even if you don¼t need it. From the INTROSPECTIVE to the RETROSPECTIVE. I like the work of David Hammons. If I did not have a studio I would use "the street" as my studio. Sachbegriffe: Psychokinese: physikalisch nicht erklärbare Einwirkung eines Menschen auf materielles Geschehen; z.B. das Bewegen eines Gegenstand ohne ihn zu berühren Levitation: vermeintliche Aufhebung der Schwerkraft, freies Schweben als spiritistische Erscheinung Präkognition: außersinnliche Wahrnehmung, bei der zukünftige Ereignisse vorausgesagt werden Stigmatisation: 1. Auftreten der fünf Wundmale Christi bei einem Menschen 2. Brandmarkung der Sklaven im Altertum 3. das Auftreten von Hautblutungen und anderen psychogen bedingten Veränderungen bei hysterischen Personen. Bilokation: gleichzeitige körperliche Anwesenheit einer Person an zwei verschiedenen Stellen. Rorschach-Test: nach dem Schweizer Psychiater H. Rorschach (1884-1922) benannter psychologischer Test, bei dem von dem Probanden gefaltete Klecksbilder gedeutet werden müssen Halluzination: vermeintliche, eingebildete, durch Sinnestäuschung hervorgerufene Wahrnehmung Alchimie: mittelalterliche, mystisch und symbolisch verbrämte Chemie Plastikseele: allgemeine Bezeichnung für Linga sharira oder Astralkörper in der Konstitution des Menschen; so benannt wegen ihrer Eigenschaft, jede Form anzunehmen, je nach dem erforderlichen Bild, welches aus dem astralen Licht ihr eingepreßt wird, im Geist des Mediums entsteht oder durch die anwesenden Sitzungsteilnehmer der Materialisation hervorgerufen wird. Transfiguration: okkulter Begriff; im Spiritismus der Vorgang, wenn das Medium in der Trance die Gesichtszüge des Verstorbenen annimmt und als solcher von den Anwesenden auch erkannt wird. virtuell: entsprechend seiner Kraft oder Anlage als Möglichkeit vorhanden, die Möglichkeit zu etwas in sich begreifend artificial reality: The oxymoron on the table. Stereoscopic, interactive, data base-based worlds displayed with such a wide field of view that the actor is on the inside looking out, as opposed to being on the outside looking in, as with conventional monitors, no matter how large the screen. Anakreontik: (nach dem altgriechischen Lyriker Anakreon) literarische Richtung, Lyrik zur Zeit des Rokokos mit den Hauptthemen Liebe, Wein und heitere Geselligkeit
Literatur (Auswahl): Unheimliche Phänomene des 20. Jahrhunderts; Verlag Hestia, 1990 Wenn Tische plötzlich schweben; Prisma Verlag, 1987 Geister, Götter, Gabelbieger; Econ Verlag Düsseldorf und Wien, 1977 Fotos aus einer anderen Welt; Knaur Sachbuch Verlag, 1990 Duden; Dudenverlag Mannheim/Wien/Zürich, 1998 MONDO 2000; Thames and Hudson Ltd.; London 1993 Beat Wyss: Trauer der Vollendung Lexikon des Geheimwissens; Horst E. Miers, Goldmann Verlag, 1987 Max Nordau: Entartung; Band I und II; Verlag von Carl Duncker, 1893 Carl Willmann: Moderne Wunder; Verlag Otto Spamer; Leipzig 1897 Oswald Spengler: Der Untergang des Abendlandes; C.H. Beck¼sche Verlagsbuchhandlung; München 1923 Dank an: / Special thanks to: Björn Bartholdy, Köln Amalie und Helmut Bock, Flossenbürg Klaus-Dieter Brandt, Köln Claus Derenbach, Köln Eurico Doballee, Düsseldorf Maria Susete Santos Dores, Lissabon Vian Fadhil, Wachtberg/Pech Katja Geis-Molina, Köln Kirsten Glauner, Köln Olaf Hackl, Kassel Anja Helbing, Berlin Studio HerMit, Köln Andrea Hoffer, Düsseldorf Sebastian Jochum, Köln Cyber Kabou, Köln Georg Lenzen, Köln Prof. Rolf Lobeck, Kassel Thilo Mössner-Tello-Chacc, Köln Silke Natho, Köln Heribert Ottersbach, Köln Stephan Reusse, Köln Maggi Rosa, Köln Prof. Rob Scholte, Amsterdam Susanne S.D. Themlitz, Köln Clea Theresa Waite, Köln Dascha, Düsseldorf and all those who didn't want to be named by name. © 1996 Thomas Helmut Bock Dasselstraße 55-57 50674 Köln am Rhein

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