Catalogue Orgonomics

This video by Ödlund was filmed using a variety of apparatus. The piece exemplified how Ödlund’s work often involves creating laboratory environments. While some of this video was made using a Tesla sphere (also known as a plasma ball) other sections use Kirlian photography. Kirlian photography converts the nonelectrical properties of an object into electrical properties and recorded them onto photographic film. Kirlian photography is also seen elsewhere in this exhibition in Dorothy Fadiman’s film Radiance. This work by Ödlund comes close to experiments performed by Cleve Backster and Dorothy Retallack in the 1960s and 1970s. They investigated the human characteristics of plants using, among other things, lie detectors, Indian sitar music and rock music (the latter was said to have caused the plants to wither and die). The meeting between art, science and the esoteric can be seen as a space of possibilities where Ödlund can cross boundaries and create speculative – but earnest scenarios. She sees the synthesis of philosophy, spirituality, art and science as a holistic way of approaching the world.

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