An unbelievable story of Victorian engineering.

More than a hundred years ago, Alexander Stanhope St George invented a way to connect London and New York through a tunnel, a system of mirrors, and two giant Telectroscopes. The invention was never realised... until it was rediscovered in the 21C by his great grandson, artist Paul St George. And so, in 2008, people in both cities were invited to peer through The Telectroscope to interact with the other side of the world.

Or so the story went…. open 24 hours a day for almost a month, on either side of the Telectroscope lens new friends were made and old friends re-acquainted. Appointments were made to meet, a woman on a business trip to the US saw her daughter in the UK on her birthday and there were four marriage proposals. It was proof enough that this strange contraption captured the imagination of audiences thousands of miles apart.

The Telectroscope
The Telectroscope, Paul St George, 2008. Produced by Artichoke. Photo by Matthew Andrews.

The Telectroscope Statistics

  • Audience

    50,000+

  • Distance from London to NYC

    5,585km

  • Marriage proposals

    4

“Raining here!” said the Yank’s handwritten note, pressed tentatively to the screen. “Sunny here!” replied a trio of blondes in London, before fanning their faces and performing heat-wave actions in mime.’

~ Paul Harris, Mail Online, May 2008 ~