Modified Photographic Slides as an Art Medium

Leonardo,Vol. 6, pp. 337-338. PergamonPress 1973. Printed in Great Britain MOD1FIED PHOTOGRAPHIC Jean Otth* 1. INTRODUCTION For several years now artists who began by making objects of fine art have questioned their validity or necessity in contemporary society. Some of these artists have turned to theatrical-type work carrying with them attitudes developed in the plastic fine arts. Examples of what might be called ‘ephemeral’ art are happenings and ‘body’ art. Records of such art are sometimes made in the form of photographs, cinema film and video tape. I have been interested in the artistic use of projection slides [l-31. Slides are commonly used for recording experiences and events and for reproducing works of art [3]. RenC Berger [4] has pointed out that the general public today obtains much of its contact with works of art through reproductions, including slides, which is also true for art students. Thus, I have found that reproductions of paintings I have made interest me more than my paintings themselves, although prejudice makes it difficult for me to accept them as the same order of art as the paintings. Slides may be used as an artistic medium and artists have worked with them in this sense [l-31. To obtain a visual experience with this medium one requires, in addition to the slide, a projector, a screen and a dark environment. The visual experience can be repeated at will, as long as the slidehas not deteriorated or been damaged. Art objects, for example paintings, generally are understood by an experienced viewer fairly quickly. Thus, a painting on a wall in a private dwelling soon loses the conscious attention of its owner and takes on an aspect of simple decoration, which I do not find is an art object’s essential function. Since slide projections are usually viewed for a very short time and a temporary setup is usually necessary to view them, these images should retain viewer interest over a longer period of time. The interest and freshness of an image produced by occasional periodic slide projection is, of course, maintained at the price of sacrificing the pleasure obtained by contemplating an art object at leisure. *Artist living at La Cimkrane, 1066 Epalinges VD, Switzerland. (Original in French.) (Received 29 June, 1972.) 337 22 A photographic slide rarely gives an accurate reproduction of reality. It has a particular quality, which is difficult to manipulate and control. One can say that the lack of accurate reproduction is due to a form of ‘noise’. Similarly, a portrait in oil paints that may be judged faithful to the subject is always found to have ‘noise’ qualities that are inherent in the technique, even though these qualities may be aesthetically pleasing. The ‘noise’ in slides may be so pronounced that it can change the intended meaning of an image as well as its appearance. The rich, unreal coloring of, for example, holiday slides tends to be pleasing. This ‘noise’ is a characteristic that, I believe, has not been adequately exploited by artists. One has only to compare the red from a slide projection and the red of a painting with the red of the depicted object to appreciate the striking differences in brilliance and transparency. The colors of slides can be varied readily by using transparent retouching inks. A further element of unreality that can be introduced with slides is scale. A miniature can be transformed into a monumental size very simply by increasing the distance of projection. The effect of lighting on the appearance of natural scenes and of works of art is most intriguing to me. Light at different times of the day and light provided by incandescent and Auorescent lamps can produce remarkable effects. Since the lamps for the projection of slides are rather well standardized, projected images from slides are essentially constant as regards reproduction. One should note that the projected image from a slide is not affected by ambient light conditions the way paintings are because they are viewed in darkness. 2. On Modifying Slides My interest in the visual experience provided by slide projections led me to consider ways of modifying photographic images on the slides. In making a painting...