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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.
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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.
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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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Ten
years ago - site has changed it's name now and I've
got a lot older
and fatter. Ah well, time marches on :D
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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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