Dead Media Elizabeth Hopwood

Today’s episode we’ll be talking about, brace yourselves, DOLLS! And not just any dolls, but Edison’s Phonograph Dolls. As if dolls weren’t already creepy enough.   

 The camera obscura secured its role as the first device in the advancement of the human obsession with seeing and perceiving the world around us in newer and most fantastical ways. Technological advancements have made these the photographic camera look very different than the camera obscura. Its significance, both scientifically and artistically, are why I am talking about it today.

The truth is that many of the medias we have now have been evolving for a very long time. I’ve done some research on the origins of image projections and I think you’ll be surprised at how far back we can trace when people first started projecting images. The specific image projection that I really delve deep into investigating was the magic lantern (ooooooh spooky). 

It’s a complicated history that humans have with pigeons. In my daily life in Chicago I am constantly surrounded by them. They are all over and are incredibly comfortable with us, perhaps too comfortable. (quick coo?) This may stem back to the days in which pigeons were used as messengers and letters would be tied to their legs and they would fly off to deliver them. But the pigeons of the 21st century are vastly different from the pigeons our ancestors used to deliver messages domestically and in times of war dating back at least 2,000 years.

[[organ sound effect]]
Did you smell that? No, of course not. That was clearly the noise of a piano. But what if you could smell it? What if, for every do, re, and mi you plunked out on an organ, you could smell your mom’s chocolate chip cookies? Or dog breath? Or daisies? 

The jukebox was definitely something well before its time. It’s a common misconception these retro machines were invented in the 40s and 50s during the time of the stereotypical age of greasers, hot rods, and drive-in movie theaters. However, the initial jukebox was first invented during the late 1800s when they were originally called phonographs