Brocken Spectre
Link to all visitor Brocken Spectre photos
As the mountaineer reaches a high ridge, a ghostly figure towers out from the mist, its head sheathed in shimmering rings. This at one time unnerving apparition is the "Spectre of the Brocken", so named because of sightings on the Brocken, the highest peak of Germany's Harz Mountains.
The Brocken Spectre appears when a low sun is behind a climber who is looking downwards into mist from a ridge or peak. The "spectre" is the shadowy figure - the glow and rings are of course a glory centered directly opposite the sun at the antisolar point.
Many never get to experience this phenomenon. The few who do, document the experience all the same. Shadows showing both hands raised to the head one elbow slightly out as to hold a camera.
This interactive piece provides a ready-made Brocken Spectre. Visitors are invited to take their own Brocken Spectre photo. For this experience visitors are not on the peak of a mountain with the appropriate natural conditions; they are in a gallery. The gallery wall is where the Brocken Spectre takes place. The piece depends on the visitor to be fully realized. By documenting their interaction with the piece in the gallery the visitors create the artwork.
As the mountaineer reaches a high ridge, a ghostly figure towers out from the mist, its head sheathed in shimmering rings. This at one time unnerving apparition is the "Spectre of the Brocken", so named because of sightings on the Brocken, the highest peak of Germany's Harz Mountains.
The Brocken Spectre appears when a low sun is behind a climber who is looking downwards into mist from a ridge or peak. The "spectre" is the shadowy figure - the glow and rings are of course a glory centered directly opposite the sun at the antisolar point.
Many never get to experience this phenomenon. The few who do, document the experience all the same. Shadows showing both hands raised to the head one elbow slightly out as to hold a camera.
This interactive piece provides a ready-made Brocken Spectre. Visitors are invited to take their own Brocken Spectre photo. For this experience visitors are not on the peak of a mountain with the appropriate natural conditions; they are in a gallery. The gallery wall is where the Brocken Spectre takes place. The piece depends on the visitor to be fully realized. By documenting their interaction with the piece in the gallery the visitors create the artwork.
