USA 2013

Image above: Liz Deschenes, Untitled (Zoetrope) #1-13, 2013, silver toned photograms, 13 parts, each 110.8 x 27 x 6.4 cm, courtesy the artist and Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York

Untitled (Zoetrope) #1-13 is a series of vertical photograms that reference the popular nineteenth century optical toy, the Zoetrope. The zoetrope consisted of a small drum that had slits cut along its circumference; along the inner circumference of the drum, a strip of paper bearing images of consecutive movement was placed. The viewer looked through the slits as the drum was spun on its axis and would see what appeared to be a moving image. In Untitled (Zoetrope) #1-13, Deschenes has imagined a very large zoetrope, whose slits have been removed and recreated as concave photograms that have been exposed to daylight until they are almost black. Instead of being arranged in a circle, these “slits”/photograms have been hung along a wall. As the viewer walks along, the dark, silver-toned photograms reflect whatever lies outside the work. Deschenes’ version of the zoetrope then, stages a series of reversals: change of scale; reflecting surface instead of empty slits; and a mobile viewer, instead of an immobile one. (Arturo Silva)

Liz Deschenes, born in 1966 in Boston; lives and works in New York City.

1. and 2. Liz Deschenes, Untitled (Zoetrope) #1, 2013, silver toned photogram, 110.8 x 27 x 6.4 cm, courtesy the artist and Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York

References

Carol Squiers, “What is a Photograph?,” in What is a Photograph?, ed. Carol Squiers (New York: International Center of Photography and DelMonico Books, 2014), pp. 9–45; p. 29.

A selection of interviews and criticism is available online from the Miguel Abreu Gallery: https://miguelabreugallery.com/wp.../LDeschenes_SelectedPress