According to Balzac’s theory, all physical bodies are made up entirely of layers of ghostlike images, an infinite number of leaflike skins laid one on top of the other. Since Balzac believed man was incapable of making something material from an apparition, from something impalpable-that is, creating something from nothing-he concluded that every time someone had his photograph taken, one of the spectral layers was removed from the body and transferred to the
photograph. Repeated exposures entailed the unavoidable loss of subsequent ghostly layers, that is, the very essence of life.
photograph. Repeated exposures entailed the unavoidable loss of subsequent ghostly layers, that is, the very essence of life.
Posted: 2 weeks ago
Marcel Duchamp, Cover design for Le Surréalisme en 1947, Paperbound exhibition catalogue with cover photograph by Rémy Duval (Paris: Pierre à Feu/Maeght)
Sheet (each): 9 9/16 x 8 3/16 inches (24.3 x 20.8 cm)© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris / Estate of Marcel Duchamp
You will never be able to tell me why you exist but you will always be ready to maintain a serious attitude about life.
Posted: 2 weeks ago
Pictured:Iain Baxter, Golden Gate Bridge, from the series Reflected San Francisco Beauty Spots, 1979
Beginning May 26, 2012, and extending through the summer, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) presents a series of tributes to the Bay Area’s beloved Golden Gate Bridge.
Read more: Celebrates The Golden Gate Bridge at 75
