13 August

The standard theory says telescopes help you see things that are ‘far away’. Bizarrely these same theories say objects emit images of themselves that then travel through ‘space’, which the telescope then focuses. Has anybody seen images travelling through space? I didn’t think so. What the telescope did is far more interesting than that. It destroyed the idea of space, and distance. Of near and far. When you see the moon in a telescope, it’s because the moon is an unfolding event happening right ‘here’, all the time. It’s not a static object in space, ’far away’, sending out images of itself for your viewing pleasure. Imagine pointing your telescope or binoculars at apartment buildings in a city, to watch people in their homes. Like Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Would the people spied on feel less violated because you’re ‘far away’? Or would they feel that violation is something happening right here, right now? That you’ve put yourself in their rooms, directly?