“Hardly anyone knows that a secret tunnel runs deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2008, more than a century after it was begun, the tunnel has finally been completed. An extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope has been installed at both ends which miraculously allows people to see right through the Earth from London to New York and vice versa.”

This is the description of the Telectroscope from the artists website, it could also be that it is all done by fiber optics, the first explanation by artist Paul St George is a little more magical though.

One end of the “tunnel” is next to Tower Bridge on the Thames river in London. The opposite end is next to Brooklyn Bridge by New York’s East River.

It is similar to a gigantic webcam, people on one side can look in and see people on the other side. Unlike using a webcam however most of the people on the other end will be wearing clothes.

You can view a video of the piece over at the BBC.

So apparently the Bodies exhibitions that have been traveling around have had black market Chinese bodies, which may include executed prisoners in it. The show really is pretty awesome but it is disturbing to think murdered people have been used, even if it gives the show an eerie sort of feel to it.

According to Reuters:

“The promoter of the “Bodies” exhibitions, which display human cadavers at locations around the world, agreed on Thursday to stop using bodies of undocumented origins in its New York display after a probe by the state attorney general.

The exhibition at New York’s South Street Seaport contains 20 cadavers and more than 200 body parts. Cuomo’s office said the bodies on display were licensed to Premier by the Dalien Hoffen Bio-Technique Co Ltd, which got them indirectly from the Chinese Bureau of Police after they were deemed unclaimed at death.“

It also appears that the exhibition is being told to issue refunds to all the NYC show visitors since 2005.