Untitled, Light Drawing n.d.

Curator: So, here we have an "Untitled, Light Drawing" photograph, author being Nathan Lerner. We are not sure when it was produced. Editor: It looks like scribbles against a deep night sky... makes me feel like a kid with a sparkler on the Fourth of July! Kind of blurry magic. Curator: "Light Drawing," but not actually a drawing, right? This belongs to the category of rayographs: lens-less photography using objects between the light source and the photographic paper. The light and dark are completely dependent on the opacity or translucence of the objects placed. So no traditional artistic labor involved. Editor: Which makes it incredibly exciting! Almost like capturing raw energy, or thought itself. The process becomes the artwork! Reminds me of those string theory visualizations. Was Lerner playing with temporality, showing light's movement in a single frame? Curator: Perhaps. I mean, in theory, it’s quite simple to recreate: dark room, light source, translucent object, photographic paper. However, to consider Lerner's practice more broadly, you could relate it to László Moholy-Nagy, and the Bauhaus interest in light, and experimentation. This specific aesthetic definitely positions it within modernist experimental practices. Editor: Exactly, it embodies that era’s fascination with deconstructing form! To create light sculptures on paper... what kind of statement do you think he wanted to make about conventional painting methods with it? A revolution! I see sparks flying. Curator: Maybe Lerner sought to expand access to image-making: a "photogram for all," reducing artistic skill through reliance on process. And it questions the labour that goes into image creation as we see it today, the whole industry! The value, its production… Editor: Okay, Karl Marx lurking in the darkroom! For me, it really emphasizes freedom. Liberating light. Something hopeful, and freeing! Curator: In its materiality, and reproducible status, maybe it provides hope for images existing beyond a rarified realm. Food for thought. Editor: Definitely. It sets your mind alight… pardon the pun. It really inspires to look for the amazing in the everyday through this alchemical technique.