Christian Marclay: Cyanotypes

Christian Marclay’s photograms reinvigorate two nearly-forgotten media: the cassette tapes of the 1970s and ’80s and the cyanotypes of the 1840s. The cyanotype process dates to the dawn of photography and was developed by the English scientist Sir John Herschel. Utilizing a light-sensitive chemical mixture, cyanotypes are created by placing objects directly onto the surface of coated paper. The resulting blue photograms reveal a silhouetted image that varies in shade with the opacity of the objects.

Horizontal image of a grid of white cassette tapes and their outlines on a background of deep blue
Vertical image of white strands of cassette tape stretching downward in a field of deep blue
Horizontal image of the white tapes of two cassettes tangling in the middle on a deep blue background
Horizontal image of tangled white tapes of cassettes on a deep blue background
Vertical image of a white cassette at the top with its tape trailing to the bottom into a white blotch on a deep blue background
Horizontal image of a grid of the thin white-outline edges of cassette tapes on a deep blue background
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Related Portfolios

Color image of a color screen print depicting an orange splash with red, yellow, and blue ink on white framed in white

Christian Marclay: Works on Paper
Color photo of a collage of comic strips and creased paper, showing a screaming man

Christian Marclay: Photographs, 2020
A photograph of a q-tip in a puddle on the side of the road, near the sidewalk curb.

Christian Marclay: Animations
A framed abstract monoprint, of a pile of tape pulled from a casette

Christian Marclay: Cassette Tape Duplications