4K UHD video, stereo, 18 minutes, with installation of photographs, original tapes, and archival notes on paper, 2024
Unseen Light is a film/installation based on a collection of séance recordings, intimately recorded by the inner circle of an Aotearoa/New Zealand/Australian family between 1958 and 1972. The work provides a portal to imaginative spaces, spirits, space travel and communicating with the afterlife.
Filmed across ageing infrastructure embedded in remote desert sands, the video reflects an era when technological advances in space exploration and satellite communication triggered renewed interest in communication with other worlds. These objects bear mute witness to an enduring human desire to connect with hidden forces and entities beyond our own planet.
The voices on the séance tapes are both one and many. The channeller variously receives, re-voices and connects with beings and conscious states beyond the material living. The séances include regular visitations from spirit guides, deceased relatives, doctors, scientists and singing children.
We hear the progress of a personal magnetisation session to increase the vibrational nature of the inner circle. There are warnings about the foolishness of humans leading to nature out of balance. Hope is advanced through the ongoing dedication of those who can consciously maintain their connections with the spirit guides. Gabriel Star, Arthur Conan Doyle, Gabriel Star Light/Ashtar Gabriel, Zambula and Arton Artuna make appearances through the medium.
Credits
Filming, editing and sound design: Sonia Leber & David Chesworth
Colour grading: Peter Hatzipavlis
The project has been supported by Creative Victoria and Multisonics
Photo credits
Sonia Leber & David Chesworth