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Artist or Maker: MAN RAY

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Notes: MAN RAY'S ELECTRICITE RAYOGRAPHS

In this image, a mannequin hand -- a motif favoured by the Surrealists -- is reaching for a light switch. The message here is that electricity is instant and readily available. Just a flick of a switch or a push of a button will give you electricity. Steven Manford notes, 'Spatial illusion is created by the weaving of the cord. The area of the cord which is pressed flat against the photographic paper is rendered white; other areas are softer in shape and tone. The eye reads the sharp white as situated in the foreground, while the soft grey areas are interpreted as positioned on a more distant plane.'

While a variant of this image was not included in the published portfolio, similar motifs were incorporated in two separate plates (fig. 1 & 2). What appears to be the same mannequin hand is 'holding' an iron in 'Lingerie' (pl.7) and a cord with a different style of switch appears below an image of the moon in 'Le Monde' (pl.4). Here Man Ray takes the idea of turning something on or off beyond the home and even reality.

This work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the Rayographs being prepared by Man Ray Research Scholar Steven Manford.

The construction of the tracing paper overlay and the motto 'L'ELECTRICITÉ FAIT TOUT' written in upper case block letters in the lower right corner of the overlay reveal Man Ray's initial ideas for the packaging and typography.

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