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Index

1972
Not on view
In many of his early photographs, Wegman deconstructs specific aspects of the medium and its technology via visual puns, homonyms, and wordplay. Index is a five-part work comparing the symmetry of the artist’s own hands, in which he elongated each digit to the length of the pointer, or index, finger; he then printed alternating negatives in reverse to further confuse the two digits seen in each print. The results are a witty rejoinder to the hoary cliché that photographs are “indexical” records of their subjects.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Index
  • Artist: William Wegman (American, born 1943)
  • Date: 1972
  • Medium: Gelatin silver prints
  • Dimensions: Each Panel: 13 5/8 × 10 13/16 in. (34.6 × 27.5 cm)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Vital Projects Fund Inc. Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.134a–e
  • Rights and Reproduction: © William Wegman, Courtesy of the Artist
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

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Selected Works: Reel 1, William Wegman American, Single-channel digital video, transferred from video tape, black-and-white, sound, 30 min., 12 sec.
Selected Works: Reel 1
William Wegman
1970–71
Raise Treat, William Wegman American, Single-channel digital video, transferred from Sony AV 3600 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound, 30 sec.
Raise Treat
William Wegman
1972–73
Dancing Tape, William Wegman American, Single-channel digital video, transferred from Panasonic 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound, 5 min., 29 sec.
Dancing Tape
William Wegman
1974–75
Down Time, William Wegman American, Single-channel digital video, transferred from Sony AV 3600 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound, 37 sec.
Down Time
William Wegman
1973–74
Name Board, William Wegman American, Single-channel digital video, transferred from Sony AV 3600 1/2-inch video tape, black-and-white, sound, 4 min., 41 sec.
Name Board
William Wegman
1972

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