Thursday 3rd December - Inaugural screening of Susan MacWilliam's 'Some Ghosts', 2009
DAVID ROBERTS FOUNDATION, LONDON
Curated by Five Storey Projects


'Some Ghosts' video extract
On Thursday 3rd December Five Storey Projects presented a screening and talk by Susan MacWilliam, who recently represented Northern Ireland at the Venice Biennale 2009. Through sourcing paranormal archives and interviewing subjects of the esoteric fringe, MacWilliam delves into the experimental paths of psychical research through strategies of participation and translation. The screening was followed by a live web-chat between the artist and the subject of 'Some Ghosts', the poltergeist investigator, Dr William G Roll with Scot Hamilton acting as the 'medium'.



London Calling - Audio Extract One
Post Screening Discussion and Skype Conversation - Running Time 51 minutes. Unfortunately the recording stopped early.
Following the London screening of 'Some Ghosts' MacWilliam discussed the project and talked to its subject Dr William G Roll in Atlanta, Georgia.
With thanks to Scot Hamilton, Psychology Department, University of West Georgia for acting as the 'medium' for this connection.

Correction to discussion - Eileen Garrett was born 1893 and not 1898
Correction to discussion - The author of 'Phone Calls from the Dead' is D.Scott Rogo not F.Scott Rogo

London Calling - Audio Extract Two - Waiting for Bill
Post Screening Skype Conversation - Running Time 26 minutes. Unfortunately the recording stopped early.
Audio excerpt of Skype conversation with Dr William G Roll in Atlanta, Georgia (excluding pre Skype discussion about the project).
With thanks to Scot Hamilton, Psychology Department, University of West Georgia for acting as the 'medium' for this connection.

Correction to discussion - The author of 'Phone Calls from the Dead' is D.Scott Rogo not F.Scott Rogo

Five Storey Projects
David Roberts Foundation

In November 2008 MacWilliam travelled to Atlanta, Georgia where she spent a week with William G Roll, recording footage for
F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N, her video work commissioned for the 2009 Venice Biennale, where she represented Northern Ireland with her solo show 'Remote Viewing'. 'Some Ghosts', 2009 is the second work developed from this 2008 visit.
 
In 'Some Ghosts', Roll is recorded at home and in the Psychology Department and Special Collections Library, University of West Georgia, where Roll, a former faculty member and Professor of Psychology and Psychical Research has donated his book collection and archive of personal research and investigations.
 
The artist first met Roll at the 2007 Parapsychological Association Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and subsequently at the Parapsychology Foundation’s 2008 International Conference, Utrecht.
 
Born in Bremen 1926, where his father was American Vice-consul, Roll has Danish and American citizenship. He was part of the Danish Resistance during World War II, and holds a BA, in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley, an MLitt from Oxford University and PhD from Lund University, Sweden. His MLitt thesis, 'Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research', has been published in the U.S. His  PhD thesis is entitled 'This World or That: An Examination of Parapsychological Findings Suggestive of the Survival of Human Personality After Death'.

During his time at Oxford, Roll was president of the Oxford University Society for Psychical Research, in 1957 he joined the staff at the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University, North Carolina, where he worked under Dr. J. B. Rhine; in 1961 Roll became Project Director of the Psychical Research Foundation, Duke University and in 1964 was President of the Parapsychological Association. In 1996 Roll received the Outstanding Career Award from the Parapsychological Association and in 2002 was awarded the Dinsdale Memorial Award by the Society for Scientific Investigation for his RSPK studies. Over the course of Roll’s extensive career he has written four books including 'Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder; the Strange Story of Tina Resch' (with Valerie Storey) and over 200 scientific articles; he continues to present papers at conferences worldwide, and is currently writing a book with Bryan Williams - 'The Psychic Brain'.

Following his investigation in 1958 of moving objects at a home in Seaford, Long Island, with J. G. Pratt, Roll and Pratt coined the term RSPK / Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis. Throughout his career Roll has investigated cases of OBE / Out of Body Experience, ESP / Extrasensory Perception, hauntings and poltergeist activity including those of Tina Resch, Sean Harribance, Keith Harary, Roger Callihan, Julio Vasquez, Renate Beck, and Heidi Wyrick. In 1991 Roll investigated RMS Queen Mary (then a hotel and museum in Long Beach, California) following reports by the ship’s engineer of mysterious nighttime sounds from her bow. Roll has worked with many respected and established researchers within the field, including Michael Persinger, Dean Radin, Gertrude Schmeidler, Raymond Moody, William Joines, Stephen Baumann and Hans Bender.

Roll features in four of MacWilliam’s works;
'13 Roland Gardens', 2007; 'Eileen', 2008; 'F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N', 2009 and 'Some Ghosts', 2009.


Roll has 3 children, 7 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, and 19 great-great-grandchildren, with many more on the way.
He spends nearly all his free time going to birthday parties.