Picture Made by My Hand with the Assistance of Light Works
2005–2011

Production and Titling:

The titles of these works refer to a series of unmade or lost works by László Moholy- Nagy. In early 2005 during a conversation with Moholy-Nagy’s grandson, the absence of the crumpled paper photogram in the productions of the avant-gardes was speculated upon, a curiosity because it was a period marked by both a suspicion of figuration in artwork and the investigation of the materialist approaches to the production of the work of art. The grandson believed that Moholy-Nagy had in fact created a series of works using nothing more than crumpled photographic paper. Through the course of discussions, a title was hypothesized for these works, “Abstraction Made by My Hand with the Assistance of Light.” These absent works were deduced to have most likely been made in 1921, just after Nagy arrived in Berlin from Hungary and changed his name from László Weisz to László Moholy- Nagy. After checking the archive and major collections of Nagy’s work, it seemed that these works had, in all likelihood, never existed, and if they had they were lost without a trace or mention. Notably, Moholy-Nagy (the extensive self-documenter) never mentioned this type of photogram in his writings or diary entries (including his detailed accounts of all of his works), which led to the conclusion that the works never actually existed. Moholy-Nagy’s grandson later said he thought there might be some reference in an unpublished letter or note, but that the works most likely were never made, but simply speculated upon. He remained uncertain whether such a document existed or if he was misremembering. Still, it seemed important to pursue this line of inquiry as it represented what seemed a missing link in the history of art. In short, it seemed like it should have taken place.

I began to make these work in the fall of 2005. In reference to these discussions about Moholy-Nagy, a form of the fictional Moholy-Nagy title was kept, replacing the word “Abstraction” with “Picture” (the reason for which is expanded upon above under the heading “On the Use of the Term ’Abstraction’”). In the works made in 2006, the frames were built by hand. The design of the frames was reverse engineered from a museum-standard picture frame, except that the frames were made such that all hardware was exposed . Also, the frames were made according to the limitations of my skills and understanding of woodworking. Again, the idea of a compromise with surrounding conditions was key to the work.

In 2008, the grandson called me and said he had a surprise. On our next meeting, he presented me with a Xerox copy of a small crumpled photogram made by
Moholy-Nagy, and inscribed on the back were instructions on how the photogram was made in Moholy-Nagy’s own hand. The process was identical to the one I had used in my first experiments. Moholy-Nagy’s inscription read, “A light sensitive paper was made wet, squashed and exposed to light. The result is a ‘diagram of forces’ projected on the flat sheet.” The paper was 8 x 10 inches (19.7 x 25.4 cm) and was later assessed to have been made between 1938 and 1942 while Moholy-Nagy was in Chicago. The object was found by Moholy-Nagy’s daughter (my friend’s mother) in an old filing cabinet in her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while culling material for a catalogue raisonné of Moholy-Nagy’s photograms, which was published by Hatje Cantz in 2009. The work was reproduced on page 241 and appears to be the only example of such a work in Moholy-Nagy’s oeuvre. I took the phrase, “A diagram of forces” for the title of my 2011 exhibition at the Malmö Konsthall, which was mounted in conjunction with a small exhibition of Moholy-Nagy’s photographic works.

These works are titled according to the following convention:
Picture Made by My Hand with the Assistance of Light, 2006
Gelatin silver photographic paper, oak planks, screws and Plexiglas
44 1/2 x 73 inches [with the dimensions varied according to the part of the body used to scale the sheet of paper]

From 2007 forward, these works are titled with the following convention:
Picture Made by My Hand with the Assistance of Light (with my arms fully extended, and feet outstretched), Ilford Multigrade IV Fiber-based Photographic Paper, Santa Clarita, California, December 19, 2007)
2008
Black and white fiber-based photographic paper
56 1/2 x 105 1/2 inches [again, with the size of the paper varied according to the part of the body used]