German scientist/artist carries out "cloudbuster"-experiments from a
museum roof in Long Island City using a technology that claims to
influence the weather.

The unusual bad weather period that the city is facing this May, may not
be blamed on St. Peter alone, but on the work of Berlin-based artist
Christoph Keller, who started with his operations at P.S.1 Contemporary
Art-Center attempting to cause rain, earlier this month - just before
the weather began to turn bad. Keller uses a canon-like apparatus called
"the cloudbuster" consisting of nine parallel copper tubes that are
connected to a high-pressure water pump.

Keller with cloudbuster-prototype in Lower-Manhattan, april 2003.
 

What can you see and what actually happens?

At first sight it looks a bit like a homemade missile-launcher, but as
you look closer, the technology is not so much high-tech, but rather
obscure.

How can the dynamics of the atmosphere be influenced by such a
relatively small apparatus?
The answer lies in the flow of water. According to the orgone-theory,
flowing water has a positive orgone-charge that can be channeled with a
cloudbuster into the sky.

The cloudbuster does not shoot as you might expect. It rather draws
orgone-energy from areas of the clouds with high orgone-potential and
therefore increases the possibility of rainfall. Inexperienced use of
the cloudbuster, like "drilling a hole in the sky," may cause long drawn
rain.

The Cloudbuster-Project is a reenactment of similar experiments
conducted by schismatic Austrian scientist Wilhelm Reich around 1953.
According to different records of the time, Reich was very successful
with his operations to cause and later to prevent rain, but hesitated to
industrialize the technology - possibly due to patent-concerns or
concerns that the technology might be misused.

Experiments are conducted according to historical-sources, including the
"Rules to Follow in Cloud Engineering" by W. Reich.
 

Timeframe and Author:

The cloudbuster-operations have started on the 27th of April in Lower
Manhattan and are taking place irregularly since the 4th of May on the
south-terrace of the P.S.1 Contemporary Art-Center in Long Island City.
The focus of the current operation is directed toward the sky over
midtown Manhattan and will to continue until June 19th.

Christoph Keller, 34, is a German artist and former natural scientist
from Berlin, whose fields of research vary from the subjectivity of the
real in photography and film to the solution of basic problems of urban
living. Keller holds a number of patents, his work has been shown around
the world and he has received some important awards and grants.
It is his third project or exhibition at P.S.1. since 1999.

RULES TO FOLLOW IN CLOUD ENGINEERING
by Wilhelm Reich

1. Shed all ambition to impress anyone.
2. Never play around with rain making or cloudbusting. The OR envelope
which you tackle while "drawing" energy from the atmosphere is an
energetic continuum of high power.
You may cause twisters. You may stir a forest fire into the wrong
direction. You may do other damage without intending to do so. Never do
anything unless you must.
3. If experimenting: it is important to observe and know why you are
doing what, that you can achieve immediate results. Slowly growing
comprehension will secure later results safely.
4. In cloud engineering you do not "create rain," - you do not "destroy
clouds," - briefly, you are not playing God. What you do is solely
helping nature on its natural course.
5. Have your equipment, truck, etc. especially all metal parts well
grounded into water, preferably flowing water. Lack of grounding
imperils your organism.
  6. Do not let workers draw OR energy any longer if they become blue or
purple in their faces or feel dizzy. Exchange the workers; let them rest
far enough way, and have their faces and arms always wetted down with
fresh water.
7. Do not hold on to pipes or other metal parts while you draw OR.
Always use a separate plastic or wooden handle to move equipment while
drawing. Have your hands always well insulated with rubber or heavy
cotton gloves.
8. Have signs put up in such a manner that no one is hurt by OR charges.
Do not let people stand close by. Among them may be men or women who are
ill and would run somedanger to their health.
9. Never " drill a hole " into the sky right above you unless you aim
for a long drawn rain.
10. When you feel a breeze or wind setting in due to your operation,
stop drawing if the wind direction becomes too strong or even if it
acquire the appearance of a twister.
11. If you wish to remove DOR clouds, draw in direction of run of OR
envelope.
12. If you wish to DESTROY clouds or to stop rain, aim at center of
heaviest clouds.
13. If you wish to make clouds grow heavier, draw from the vicinity of
the smaller clouds, and have the large or heavy clouds undisturbed.
14. If there are no clouds in the sky and clouds should be created,
disturb the stillness or evenness of the OR envelope all around you by
brief, sweeping draws and draw mainly against the run of the OR
envelope. To create clouds you must create differences of OR energy
potentials.

Cloudbuster-Project - Christoph Keller / P.S.1 Contemporary Art-Center
22-25 Jackson Ave
Long Island City, NY 11101
Ph: 347-513 5910
chrk@khm.de