Holography suffers from a pretense – being something it is not.

The spectacle of its cleverness is often softened through its presentation to the viewer, framed to make it more like ‘traditional’, acceptable and familiar visual works.

Some of my earlier pieces have attempted to interrogate that ‘acceptable’ mode of display and place holographic images, raw and unframed, in spaces and environments where other methods of support become integral to the installation.

Vertical Liquid Supported strips down the visual mechanics of holography to its basics. The image of the shadow of liquid protrudes slightly beyond the surface of the rectangular glass plate – a tentative insurgence into the viewers’ domain (your space).

There has been human intervention in the form of a swiped finger mark curving across the centre of the piece which disturbs the liquid and recording process, moving it slightly ‘away’ from an analytical demonstration.

These marks are manifest entirely through the technical process of holographic recording. Shadows of liquid cannot exist, unsupported, in ‘our space’, yet they have an elegant familiarity reminiscent of marks on fogged and condensed windows. The rectangular holographic plate is exposed in its entirety, unframed, and held vertical by use of an industrial ‘G’ clamp.

The clamp is ‘worn’ and has been used to support other materials during domestic and sculptural constructions. Here it ‘holds’ the glass sheet so that it can be viewed from a variety of angles and positions. Unlike many holographic works, there is no desired ‘viewing zone’. At points the liquid shadows are visible but they fade away from view as an observer moves around the piece. Looking at the piece from the back, or from directly above, is as valid as when the content of the hologram is visible.

Ways of looking should not always be held ransom to the medium we are asked to look at.

Andrew Pepper November 2011

Gallery 175 was established by the Korea National University of Arts and became known for showcasing new and experimental art. Its focus has been on supporting emerging talent and engaging with critical art movements.

Translated from Korean:

Holography remains far from being seriously critiqued in art or provoking debate at the heart of discourse. Yet, as art history demonstrates, establishing new media as artistic tools demands considerable time and effort. Photography took approximately 170 years after its invention to gain mainstream recognition at the centre of art. Holography, first successfully achieving three-dimensional image recording, emerged following the invention of the laser in the 1960s and Dr. David Gabor’s discovery of its principles in 1974, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics. It continues to evolve within its relatively brief technological history of around forty years. Rather than demanding a newborn baby display astonishing abilities, it is a time to care for it more and make great efforts to ensure it grows up healthy and strong. I hold great potential and new hope for holography, noting its potential to develop as a new generation of visual communication media, rich in possibilities.