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Light Off / Light On

1970
Not on view
The task of turning a light on or off is as minimal as pressing the shutter release on a camera. In this diptych, one of the first photographic works Wegman made in California, the artist eschews art photography’s dependence on fancy technique, perfect moments, and surprising subjects, and instead opts for a witty play on sameness and difference via banal scenes and actions. Like his contemporary John Baldessari, Wegman asks the viewer to locate the art in images thoroughly evacuated of traditional signifiers of meaning: Does it reside in the object itself, the subject depicted, or simply in the mind of the viewer?

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Light Off / Light On
  • Artist: William Wegman (American, born 1943)
  • Date: 1970
  • Medium: Gelatin silver prints
  • Dimensions: Images: ca. 10 3/4 × 10 1/2 in. (27.3 × 26.7 cm), each
    Framed: 15 1/4 × 23 1/4 × 1 3/4 in. (38.7 × 59 × 4.4 cm)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gift of the artist, 2017
  • Object Number: 2017.430.8
  • Rights and Reproduction: © William Wegman, Courtesy of the Artist
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

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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