Two behemoths of Victorian design recently appeared on the banks of both the Hudson and the Thames-- the Telectroscope. These enormous telescopic devices are linked, and have already managed to wow two of the world's largest cities. The man behind the creation is artist Paul St. George, who claims that his creation is a real tunnel that grants viewers the chance to see through to the other side using an extravagant series of lenses and mirrors.

The design is inspired by the discovery of his great grandfather Alexander Stanhope St George’s plans for a similarly outrageous creation, which never came to fruition, due to the reported deterioration of his mental state and being sent to an insane asylum where he passed away in 1917.

St. George is obsessed with different realities and the idea of spectacle-- paving the way for his fantastical shrouding of the reality with the Telectroscope. Whether the device is truly a man-made wonder whose design harkens back to the 1800s or just a demonstration of broadband-tech in the 2000s, it’s popular with the young and old alike, who gather day and night to communicate across the Atlantic, via waves or a humble white board and pen. Despite an age obsessed with emails, web cams, text messaging, St. George highlights the fact that one can still get excited over two tin cans on a string, a two way mirror, or asking someone’s name on a white board a million miles away.

Without Morse code or smoke signals, psychoPEDIA quizzed him on the past, future and how he could dig a tunnel through the earth:

Were you just inspired to replicate your grandfather's original plans, or was there something you felt in the social climate of the world today that needed the telectroscope?
Currently we need to revive the spirit of innovation and unbridled optimism that was prevalent at the end of the nineteenth century.

What was the biggest hurdle you faced when trying to build the telectroscope?
Connections. I knew the tunnels were there, but it took time to get permission to use them. In the end, I told each tunnel owner that all the other owners had given permission and that the whole venture was just waiting on them.

How difficult was it to coordinate?
Planning permission at each end was difficult but not impossible. Planning permission in middle Earth was almost impossible, as it required international treaties. This is why the project has to be temporary. The delegates need to meet again to decide who owns what.

Do you think there are any other things London can learn from New York and vice versa?
Londoners have been learning how to be more direct, and New Yorkers have been learning how to be less direct. Since the Telectroscope, I have heard a man in the Lower East Side say: “Would you mind awfully if I had some tomato sauce on that hot dog?” Then when I returned, I heard a woman in Hoxton turn to another bus passenger and say “Weather?”

Since building the tunnel and seeing the interactions between people, have you thought about linking separated communities together-- helping those to understand less fortunate areas of the world?
We have fortunate and unfortunate, understood and misunderstood in all areas of the world and around us. I want to link other cities with Telectroscopes so we can enjoy and be closer to people in different cultures and to those around us. It is easy to overlook the way people come together at each end of the Telectroscope as well as through the Telectroscope.

How does the project link with your past artistic ventures or future plans?
The Telectroscope completes an unfinished story. I have collected a number of similarly fantastic unfinished stories and I plan to complete more of these.

Was there concern in the family that this venture could go horribly wrong and make you the source of ridicule that once happened to your great grandfather?
My analyst has advised me to avoid this question.

As a child did you have a penchant for the periscope, telescope or any kind of scope to spy on friends, crushes, parents?
Windows have always fascinated me. The Telectroscope is like a window into a different place. The suppression of absence.

~Kevin Soar


First photo by myworldgallery via Flickr
Second photo by wallyg via Flickr
Third & fifth photos via Telegraph.co.uk
Sixth photo via Gothamist