SIGILS FOR COMMUNICATION

Ghosts in the machine call out from an improvised obelisk of scaffolding, CRT televisions, and antennae. Most of the time, the screens in Receiver show only static. Occasionally, a television crackles to life as if possessed, delivering a message in the form of nostalgic film and television snippets. Sometimes they seem to speak to you — “Hello? Can you hear me?”— but you can never be sure. Did you just hear your name? Historically, the obelisk was believed to link Earth and the Heavens and direct psychic energy. Here, it becomes a conduit for ghosts and memories, a place where unseen forces reach out to make contact. Messages are broken and imperfect. Part of the work therefore lives in anticipation; in waiting for a screen to say something and hoping it will be coherent. Receiver is an invitation to listen and interpret, and to think about who might want to speak to you. ​Like many ghost sightings, the experience is fleeting.