The Haunted Ebay Painting.

GuanYin · 01-08-2004 06:46PM #1

This is a pretty old story, but I just came across the jpg on an old PC I have so I figure dI'd upload it.

This painting, "Hands Resist Him" painted by Bill Stoneham in 1972 was sold on Ebay in 2000 and it sparked a small web cult following, as reports came in of many people having a disturbing reaction to viewing the paining.

The full story of the painting is here.

What do you guys make of it.

keu · 01-08-2004 06:47PM

i've seen the image before, have a theory.

GuanYin · 01-08-2004 06:50PM

keu wrote:

i've seen the image before, have a theory.

Cool, feel free to share

Gordon · 01-08-2004 06:51PM

That's freaky... how someone would want to buy it!

neXus9 · 01-08-2004 06:53PM

It does look a bit freaky, the girl's hollow eyes and the scraping hands in the background.

It kinda looks like they're the gatekeepers to the underworld.

keu · 01-08-2004 07:07PM

k..geez wish those pics didnt just pop up like that..urrgh, they feel horrible.
anyway.. just for explanation purposes i'm going to reduce humans to a form of electromagnetism. (and consider our physicality as a projection of it..just use your imagination)
(and for explanation purposes only) consider that we have the same magnetic qualities I'll just call them feelings for now.
In this instance I'll call love and hate opposite polarities and as such have their own unique frequency. It's just as easy to mangetise particular objects (other people, items of jewellery) and leave a trace of whatever resonance (the electromagnetic pattern that we carry) on objects.

syke..I know i'm probably over simplifying the subject, i'm just trying to get the basic concept across (and i'm finding it increasingly difficult to do because my daughter keeps rabbiting in my ear and hasn't shut up talking about the street carnival which doesn't start until 9.30pm tonight) ...but do you get the gist?

bsically in this instance this concept suggests the artist imbedded his own particular resonance (fear/isolation/lonliness) into the image (like a residual energy) and those sensative to it can pick it up.
in any other instance, it would be easy to suggest that the artist is just very good at translating fear onto paper, but seemingly these images have relayed the message very deeply almost subliminally onto the viewers psyche.

Lex_Diamonds · 01-08-2004 07:18PM

Wow, that painting rocks. Where can I buy a repro?

keu · 01-08-2004 07:29PM

the same concept can be applied to "haunted" buildings or places.
actually I would think most tranference is a result of this principle.
Residual energy left in places or on objects can rub off on people and leave them feeling the same emotion (fear anger hate/ or its opposites)
in this case the result was a cultish following by morbidly curious freaks (much like the painter)

oh..and out of my own curiosity, as a scientist syke, can you explain a little about electromagnetism, can it generate power that is observable or take form (become visible)?

aidan_walsh · 01-08-2004 07:43PM

Lex_Diamonds wrote:

Wow, that painting rocks. Where can I buy a repro?

http://www.stonehamstudios.com/haunted.shtml

Highly creepy story...

bus77 · 01-08-2004 09:19PM

It reminds me of the holocaust pictures, with the hands and feet on the trucks
and the doorframe like a fence, the youngfella(the skinny prisoner) on the outside. But inside and outside have been confused by the way its done.
The youngfella is obviosly outside on a sunny day but the view throgh the door is unnaturally dark like something you would only see looking out on a dark night. The angles of the picture also give the the impression of being inside walking down a hallway towards the door. The way the youngones standing, waiting to go out?

Watch out kids! THE HANDS WILL GET YA!!

GuanYin · 01-08-2004 09:36PM

keu wrote:

oh..and out of my own curiosity, as a scientist syke, can you explain a little about electromagnetism, can it generate power that is observable or take form (become visible)?

To quote Leonard McCoy "I'm a Doctor not an electrician" and its somewhat related in this case.

Seriously though, the answer is possably - the human brain contains biogenic material such as magnite (a black mineral form of crystaline iron oxide) and there is a growing field of study in biomagnetism and electromagnetic therapies (that is if electromagnetic impulses in general disrupt our own electrophysiology sufficiently to cause disease, is there an energy signature that might heal or renew cells (hence the star trek quote).

Most of our neurological pathways are based on a loosely termed "electric system" and bone is being shown to be electrical in nature. The bone matrix is a biphasic (two-part) semiconductor.

Whether we can conciously or unconciously project such electrical signatures is another matter, but many established scientists have proposed that the biomagnetic properties of the brain may be sufficient to generate an signal, especially in times of distress but the exact science of this would be the realm of a neurophysacist, which I am not.

There was also work in the 70's, in Russia claiming that cell cultures could transmit disease by electromagnic means by way of a quartz medium. Cells were grown independantly on either side of a quartz window and one side was infected with a viral payload. Shortly after, the second flask of cells demonstrated the symptoms of infection. I'm highly dubious about this but if you are interested (and want to take the discussion forward, please start another thread), here is the reference and a link.

V.P. Kaznacheyev et al, "Distant Intercellular Interactions in a System of Two Tissue Cultures," Psychoenergetic Systems, Vol. 1, No. 3, March 1976, pp 141-142.

Xcom2 · 01-08-2004 09:52PM

Never mind the neurological/electromagnetic stuff!!

That picture give's me the creep's!

G

Nick_oliveri · 01-08-2004 10:00PM

*turns lights on*

keu · 01-08-2004 10:59PM

k.. "Whether we can conciously or unconciously project such electrical signatures is another matter, but many established scientists have proposed that the biomagnetic properties of the brain may be sufficient to generate an signal,"
This makes telepathy plausible.
As for generating healing effects,and or the properties of crystals, all these are current working principles within the holistic field.
As for starting another thread on such topic, I think the general gist of this principle is at the core of many issues that have already been discussed, but at least this way, in future when a relevant issue arises I'll keep it in mind.

cheers

stormkeeper · 02-08-2004 07:31AM

I don't like that picture. I looked at the postings in this thread, and I immediately got shivers. I don't usually do that unless I know there's something up with a picture... Suffice to say though, I looked at the other pictures and went ballistic

I dunno if it's because I'm psychic, or because of what I read... Suffice to say, I think there are bad vibes off that pic.

Heh, that's funny, those 2 normal pics don't freak me out any more... Then again, I'm getting a chill again while writing this, so I'm not sure

satori · 02-08-2004 03:43PM

*shiver*

I have to agree it is not a positive picture...

stormkeeper · 03-08-2004 03:35AM

I geberally make it a policy to be careful when I look at very strange pictures, be it coz they're haunted, or have some wierd property to them, and usually, I shiver all over if there's something up with the pic...

stormkeeper · 03-08-2004 03:38AM

keu wrote:

bsically in this instance this concept suggests the artist imbedded his own particular resonance (fear/isolation/lonliness) into the image (like a residual energy) and those sensative to it can pick it up.
in any other instance, it would be easy to suggest that the artist is just very good at translating fear onto paper, but seemingly these images have relayed the message very deeply almost subliminally onto the viewers psyche.

That would prolly explain why I get the shivers... A lot of negative emotion in it... I kinda felt somewhat threatened by the picture, I think... I'll I know is it gives me the creeps and makes me shiver!

neXus9 · 04-08-2004 12:24AM

Interesting

It has a sequel!!

The Clown Man · 04-08-2004 01:45AM

Holy crap I can't even look at the damn thing. It just glows with something totally f**ked up. I got one glimpse of two children and tried to take another look but I seriously cannot look at it again. Every time I do I freeze. Seeing stars and sh*t. Wow. That is totally messed up.

And here I was thinking I wasn't a big puss!

Mercury_Tilt · 04-08-2004 02:08AM

This post has been deleted.

segadreamcast · 04-08-2004 02:19AM

There is something about it... it doesn't scare me though sadly I must admit. The oddest thing I find about it is the boys expression - that of a man rather than a boy. I'd almost say the hands represent some sort of past torment that can no longer touch him as he has grown, hence the back turned, the hands shielded - and, of course the title.

There is more hope to be drawn from this picture than despair, in my belief at least.

EDIT: Jesus christ! ****ING RATTLED! The TV went out just as I sent that post - UTV just went zap. Litreally leaped from the chair. ****.

Explosive_Cornflake · 04-08-2004 02:35AM

Any decent scans of this floating around, i'd like a closer look.

jill_valentine · 04-08-2004 11:09AM

That painting freaks me out quite a bit. Its day, and I'm surrounded by people, and I just can't make myself look at it any more. I think I'm even more freaked out because I can't quite work out what it is that's bothering me about it...

stormkeeper · 04-08-2004 01:36PM

neXus9 wrote:

Interesting

It has a sequel!!

I don't actually feel anything with that 2nd pic...

neXus9 · 04-08-2004 04:56PM

Yeah, the second one isn't that scary at all.

Elessar · 04-08-2004 09:04PM

Freaky indeed.

This reminds me of the well known story of a painting (or was it a picture) of a young boy with a sad look on his face. Many households which had it or a copy of it over the years caught fire and everything burned except the painting. It was even kept in a house in here Dublin, which subsequently burned down months after the painting was acquired by the family.

Here it is! : http://www.ghoststudy.com/monthly/jun03/tears.html

Yikes, that's freaky *shivers*.

04-08-2004 09:31PM

im very skeptical about it as i am with many things like it. But after looking at the painting my TV turned it self off twice. I had to unplug and plug it back in again to get it to work. This is a relitivly new TV.

fatherdougalmag · 04-08-2004 10:13PM

First time poster, long time reader and fan.

Regarding the original picture, I'm intrigued that the emotions and feelings it invokes are essentially being transmitted by 1's and 0's. Even then, compressed and far from the original. I could well understand something being brought on when in the presence of the original and the very fabric (canvas and paint), but to speak of various arousals as a result of viewing it second-hand strike me as interesting. Maybe it stirs up a childhood nightmare image or a notion that is held. It kind of did with me. There was certainly something familiar about it. But nothing more. Is it that which is being stirred up?

Maybe there's a resonance generated by a commonality which is captured in the image and something that is being harboured by the observer. But then, that's what art's all about really. Music, images, actions set down by a composer/artist which capture something within the recipient.

Regarding 'the sequel'. Maybe the shock factor has been taken away after viewing the first one. Even the phrase 'sequel' prepares you. It suggests some kind of synonimity with the original. Chances are thought that anyone following this thread has read the original.

In the second picture, the boy child has aged but the girl hasn't. The hands are still there behind the door but there's more light in the entire picture. And the hands are higher up the doors. The girl is shown to be artificial. If anything, the fear is taken right out of the original. IMHO, it's not nearly as imposing as the first image. But maybe that's because it sounds Stoneham was put up to producing a sequel and, so, may not been have under the same emotional circumstances. I don't know what the deal with the wasps is.

I believe that art, in its truest form, can generate spine-tingling feelings.

Anyway, looking forward to further reactions.

neXus9 · 05-08-2004 08:26PM

Elessar wrote:

Here it is! : http://www.ghoststudy.com/monthly/jun03/tears.html

Yikes, that's freaky *shivers*.

Wouldn't want to be looking at that picture at night in my house, alone, staring at me... :eek:

jill_valentine · 06-08-2004 10:44AM

WTF? Who the hell would think "Ah, a lovely piture of a crying Satan-Child, that'll do nicely for the living room". Apparently, one of my web buddies had one... no fires though.

The Haunted Ebay Painting.

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