Sep 07 2009
Dark nights of science in motion
Amanda Hoh
Video reporter Amanda Hoh braved two dark nights of science at the Powerhouse Museum on the 26th and 28th of August to bring you this special report.
Tag Archive 'suspension'
Aug 31 2009
The Voyeur and The Masochist
Alex Serpo
Alex believes the mind is a machine capable of remarkable things. He greatly enjoys the teachings of history’s most famous masochist, Siddhartha Gautama.
Swinging and grinning, the man’s skin stretches obscenely as he swings back and forward. Watching, I wonder who is the more bizarre. Is he macabre in seeking extreme sensory experiences, or am I macabre in being such a willing voyeur of them?
Buddha in Sarnath Museum (Dhammajak Mutra). Image: wikipedia
There is nothing unusual about pain. We all experience it – to varying degrees – during most given weeks. Many people with chronic pain experience it in every waking hour. Yet in our society pain holds a strong taboo. It is something to be avoided at all costs and we believe that it can only be damaging to one’s psyche. Even more powerful than pain seems to be the fear of pain, which seems to drive people to a higher state of hysteria than the pain the fear is inspired by.
Aug 29 2009
What are they doing to Derek?
By Kate Hennessy
[Warning. Don't watch video or click through to story if you're squeamish.]
Three-and-a-half seconds, give or take a nanosecond or two. That’s the finely calibrated length of time I could gaze at the man suspended from hooks before a shudder would arch up my spine and I’d turn my head away. Repeat.
But that was Wednesday night and I’m back for more. It’s Friday night at the Powerhouse and it’s all about fear. I’m here with my sister who politely refused a consent armband at the door. “I’ll hold your bag, OK?” she says.
We enter and watch the amazing Rob Valenti from Polymorph suspend, with a polygraph attached to measure his “fear”.
An hour later, we’re inching through the crowd towards the stage. DJ Gemma is playing darkly ambient tunes: lots of cello and whispered vocals. Then a friend in front turns and says “What is Derek doing?” at the same moment as another friend nudges me from behind, hissing: “What are they doing to Derek?”.
I don’t have an answer for either of them. But we’re all about to find out.
Aug 27 2009
Hanging around the dark side of science
By Tyler Broyles
[WARNING: if you're not prepared for images of hooks through skin, please don't click]
Hooks, tattoos, blood, electrocutions, muscle control and phantom limbs? Oh – and did I mention pain?
Nope, that's not a pitchfork. Image: Mat McCosker's iPhone
These are the reasons we are in a long looping queue for entry to the Powerhouse Museum. Pain is fascinating and a night where the science behind the agony is de-mystified is too good to miss.
A Powerhouse rep is working her way down the queue, getting people to sign release forms. Wait, release forms? I’m sure it’s a legal thing — but it’s also a good way to raise anticipation levels!
