Analog Feedback

I turn the lights off, first, to reduce interference, and then I hook my camcorder up to VCR. I know very little about the science which produces the infinite regression look. It's sort of like that old clip in The Simpsons where Bart hooks up 100 megaphones to see if each megaphone will exponentially amplify the output of the last. The camcorder is incapable of recognizing the TV as merely another object. The analog magic that goes on inside the VCR makes the TV into a virtual hall of mirrors, an illusory expanse. It is both beautiful and terrifying simultaneously, to point a Camcorder directly into a cathode TV and watch as the patterns go on forever, and seem to rush out at you. 

Back in the day, people probably viewed this effect as a mild annoyance, as many have have always perceived feedback, yet in a modern context it's a dazzling, crackling explosion of light and visual ephemera. Artifacts bounce around, the slightest tilt of the camcorder can result in strikingly distinct patterns, because every corner of every graphic gives way to a world of nonstop electric variety. It truly is insane, the amount of unique phenomena I've been able to produce utilizing this method. 

I wonder how many other secrets are tucked away in my VCR, just waiting for me to plug them in and explore them. The possibilities may be infinite, which is very exciting for someone who's big into graphic design such as myself. I can now create as many worlds and shapes on VHS as I can using a pencil or pen, with the camcorder as my tool. 

What a thrilling prospect.