Nagraographs
2024 - | Digital prints derived from sticky tape, photocopies & scanner | Variable dimensions
Taking a cue from Man Ray's Rayographs, named for the cameraless process by which they were made, these works propose the term Nagraograph for the transfer of images of the iconic Swiss-made Nagra SN tape recorder to tape. Each piece begins with strips of sticky tape applied to photocopied images before the paper support dissolves in warm water, leaving only photocopier toner adhered to the tape. These translucent fragments are reassembled into a new series of Nagra-derived images. Nagraographs echo the machine's transformation from hidden recording device to fetishised object. The Nagra SN remains a highly coveted, beautifully engineered, compact reel-to-reel machine. Small enough to be concealed, it was frequently used for clandestine operations by the CIA and other intelligence agencies. Initially transparent, the sticky tape collapses distinctions as it becomes the object, the image, and the process. The work reflects on the dematerialisation of recording technologies: technologies disappear, but their material and cultural residues remain fertile references for unexpected futures. Nagraographs claim a lineage with Rayographs while refusing to name the process after the artist. The machine gets the name.
First exhibited in Beneath the Streets #2
Assenbly Point, SouthBank, Melbourne
August - September 2026
Curator
Peter Burke