Invocation
Photograph
1992 (made)
1992 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Photograph of a baby appearing to float against a yellow background.
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Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Invocation (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Dye destruction print |
| Brief description | Dye Destruction print by Adam Fuss, 'Invocation', 1992 |
| Physical description | Photograph of a baby appearing to float against a yellow background. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | Cameraless Photography
Adam Fuss (b.1961)
Invocation
1992
Dye destruction print
76 x 101.6 cm
Museum no. E.693-1993
To make this piece, a mother briefly placed her child on photographic paper that had been submerged in a tray of shallow water. The resulting image – created by firing flashlight directly at the paper – captures not only the child’s outline but also the ripples in the water caused by its movements. Fuss’s image is a kind of baptism, but its title also means an earnest appeal or prayer to a supernatural being for psychological or spiritual inspiration. |
| Credit line | Copyright Adam Fuss |
| Historical context | Adam Fuss was born in Britain and lives and works in New York. Having worked as a commercial photographer, he is conscious of what he calls "the pervasive technological-consumerist culture". In response to this, along with other artists of his generation such as Garry Fabian Miller and Susan Derges, he has returned to the simplest photographic means: photography without the use of a camera. Such procedures recall the earliest photographs of the 1830's and 1840's. In Fuss’s work, light is used as a metaphor to illuminate the processes and stages of human life. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.693-1993 |
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| Record created | July 25, 2003 |
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