This work incorporates an emf sensor and speaker inside a hollowed out copy of Poe's complete works. When switched on the book becomes a mobile emf detector and renders audible the invisible flow of electromagnetic currents in the environment. Modeled on the archaic practice of belting books together to carry to school, work etc. the book/belt apparatus functions as a companion piece to the "terrors" of Poe's worlds, and by extension to the anxiety (of influence?) and "presence" of the past in our lives...Poe standing as a cipher for all that is dark and unknowable, an uncomfortable voice calling out to us from history...
This project is meant to be both a passive and active object, a kind of ready-made which can simply be placed on a table or gallery plinth, with a small text which outlines its raison d'être. It can function as a stand alone object to be simply looked at, like a sculptural form, whereby the knowledge of its function and conceptual concerns are embodied in the simple pleasure of the gaze or conversely, it may be handled and taken for a stroll around a given space, sniffing out packets of EMF activity.
In paranormal circles it could be said that one is searching out “coldspots” and other such phenomenon in the pursuit of phantoms when employing a device such as this...