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Studies in Perception I

Print
1997 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In order to create the original version of this image, Leon Harmon and Ken Knowlton scanned a photograph of the choreographer Deborah Hay and converted the greyscale values into symbols. The resulting printout was 12 feet wide and was hung in a colleague's office at Bell Labs as a prank. The image found fame when it featured in a press conference in Robert Rauschenberg's loft and subsequently appeared in the New York Times on 11 October, 1967.

Another version was included in a major exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art New York in 1968, entitled The machine as seen at the end of the mechanical age. This is smaller and more recent version of the image, produced in 1997 as a limited edition print.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleStudies in Perception I (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Laser print
Brief description
Laser print after a computer-generated image, 'Studies in Perception I', by Leon Harmon and Ken Knowlton, 1997.
Physical description
Black and white laser print depicting a female nude made up of typographic symbols. Window mounted.
Dimensions
  • Inc. mount height: 32.3cm
  • Inc. mount width: 55.6cm
Work is currently fixed in the mount (17/07/09)
Gallery label
(07/12/2009 - 20/06/2010)
Leon Harmon 1922-82 and Kenneth Knowlton born 1931
Studies in Perception I
1997 (original version 1967)

Harmon and Knowlton scanned a photograph of choreographer Deborah Hay and converted the grey scale values into symbols. The original printout was 12 feet wide and was hung in a colleague's office at Bell Labs as a prank. The image found fame when it featured in a press conference in Robert Rauschenberg's loft, and then in the New York Times.

Laser print
Given by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Patric Prince
Museum no. E.963-2008
Credit line
Given by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Patric Prince
Subjects depicted
Summary
In order to create the original version of this image, Leon Harmon and Ken Knowlton scanned a photograph of the choreographer Deborah Hay and converted the greyscale values into symbols. The resulting printout was 12 feet wide and was hung in a colleague's office at Bell Labs as a prank. The image found fame when it featured in a press conference in Robert Rauschenberg's loft and subsequently appeared in the New York Times on 11 October, 1967.

Another version was included in a major exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art New York in 1968, entitled The machine as seen at the end of the mechanical age. This is smaller and more recent version of the image, produced in 1997 as a limited edition print.
Bibliographic reference
Mark Leckey, The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things London: Hayward Publishing, 2013. ISBN: 9781853323058.
Collection
Accession number
E.963-2008

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Record createdJune 8, 2009
Record URL
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