Aura and the Spectacle of Light

Electrophotography. St. Elmo's Fire. Kirlean imaging. All are names for an unusual type of photography in which a high-voltage electromagnetic discharge is used to expose film directly, without a camera. Filmmaker and photographer Kerry Laitala will present a lecture tracing this process to its origins in the 1880s, when Nikola Tesla captured images of his "Tesla Coil," discussing some of the beliefs that have sprung up around the process, and demonstrating how she utilizes it in her contemporary art practice.

Since 2010 Laitala has been exploring this process to create a body of work residing at the intersection between science and superstition, belief and manifestation. She electrifies materials ranging from vintage letter-press blocks to Mexican "Milagros" that are often left at churches and other places of worship. These objects, in the shape of hearts, legs, and kneeling forms, become talismans to help people with ailments, and to fulfill their desires. Laitala will show examples of these works as well as a video filmed in her South of Market studio about how she electrifies the objects to bring out the discharge, leaving its luminous trace on the surface of the film.

Speaker: Kerry Laitala