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I
don't know what causes cutlery to bend, but then I don't really
know exactly why compasses point North or what causes lightning
or how the Moon controls the tides, either. I know that all of
these things now have scientific explanations, but it's not too
long ago in the scheme of things that we thought that sending
sound and pictures through space was a bizarre fantasy. Surely
the more we learn, the more we should realise how little we really
know. "Do
you remember how electrical currents and 'unseen waves' were laughed
at? The knowledge about man is still in its infancy."
- Albert Einstein
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After learning
how to bend metal, I got onto the net to find some sort
of explanation as to why it works. It's pretty amazing when you
first do it, and it would be good to have an explanation or two.
What I did find is hundreds of skeptics 'scientific' debunking
of the 'psychic claims' of spoonbenders such as Uri
Geller. The general attitude was that if it can't be proven
by being reliably performed under laboratory conditions, then
it's totally bogus. A hoax. That's like saying if you can't get
an erection at will in a laboratory with bright lights and strangers
measuring your willy, then you're obviously impotent. Give me
a break! I may be a girl, but I know about performance anxiety. |
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I
don't claim it's 'psychic' but I think physical & psychological
factors certainly come into it, and I think a large part of whatever
causes it is subconscious. Perhaps it uses parts of your brain
that are normally just reflex. Some mystics can apparently control
their heartbeat after years of practice (although whether they
can do it in 'scientific conditions' is another matter). And though
I think it's got something to do with your brain, I'm not saying
it's paranormal. I think there's probably a very physical explanation
- biochemical, electrical, magnetic or some combination of those
things that can temporarily alter the alignment of the molecules
in the metal.
I'm currently
collecting as much info as I can about WHY it works, but certainly
don't have a definitive answer. |
| I'm
not very good at it compared to all the other people I know who
can do it (many of whom I 'taught' to do it). I can do it sometimes,
and sometimes I can do it much better than other times. Often
it doesn't work at all. It seems to work better at night. I think
it works better on a full moon. It certainly seems to depend on
mood, and never works if you're trying too hard. Michael Crichton
says it seems to require 'focussed inattention', which is a good
description. You need to sort of be distracted... thinking about
something else. It's like those 3D magic-eye pictures, where you
can only see them if you focus on a point that isn't the picture.
No, I don't
do drugs, and I'm quite sane & stable. I've taught some pretty
conservative (but obviously open-minded) people how to do it -
including my Mum & Stepdad. Just about anyone can do it.
When you first
learn to bend metal, it's pretty exciting. After a few days, that
wears off when you realise it doesn't really change the world
much and your cutlery's all stuffed. But it does have one significant
positive effect - it challenges some of your most basic assumptions.
There is so much that we have yet to discover about the world
around us, and the human body. |
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A
less positive side-effect is that it also makes you realise that
although science has progressed at an amazing rate in the past
millennium, there is still widespread resistance to accepting
how much we still DON'T know. Surprisingly, perhaps, this narrow-mindedness
seems most prevalent in the Scientific community - where one would
hope the most enquiring and curious minds would be... Although
there are some notable and fascinating exceptions, where the effects
of consciousness on the environment and the body are being studied
in universities and institutes around the world. See my links
page.
OK, so I have
no idea as to why or how it works, but it's still a lot of fun.
A damned fine party-trick (when it works). But I'm an artist,
not a scientist, so I'm happy to use it for my own ends without
too much dwelling on the why and wherefores. |
| Meanwhile,
I think some of the sculptures you can make are pretty cool. Sometimes
they look like scorpions, sometimes people. You can get a lot
more expression out of a fork, so I tend to play with them more
than spoons.
I have no
reason to be making this up. Unless you think I'm an attention-seeking
loon (which I'm not - I really don't want flaming hatemail from
narrow-minded gits). I admit it's a bit weird - not in itself,
but in the fact that so many people say it's impossible when it
seems that just about anyone can do it without too much effort.
You wonder how it could have stayed marginalised and controversial
when it's so easy to do. But then, society once believed that
the earth was flat when to any observer the horizon looks curved
and all the other planets are spherical. You sort of expect truth
to be self-evident, when it's so obvious. Forks and spoons go
soft. You can bend them. It happens, and it seems perfectly normal
when you do it. But then people can deny even the exceedingly
obvious if they want to. To me, THAT is weird. |
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If
you want to tell me it's impossible, I'm making it all up, I'm
deluded, or anything of that kind, save your precious lil fingers,
cos I don't give a hoot and I don't feel the need to prove anything
to you. I encourage you to start your own website if you have
something to say.
I
don't know anything more about it than I've said here, I'm no
'authority' on the subject, so please don't email me asking the
same old questions. I have nothing to add apart from what I've
put in this site - apart from hundreds more bent forks, many of
which are really cute.
If
you're interested, these cutlery pics are just direct scans, as
I'm cameraless. I chose some of the flatter pieces and laid them
on the glass, covered in black material. A bit cruddy, but good
enough to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I consider
them artworks & hold copyright. ASK me if you want
to use them. I do believe in karma.
There
are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt
of in your philosophy.
katty
b, september 2002 |
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