Fourteenth Series: Note to Man Ray: Object to Be Deployed, ed. 12
This work is a play on the readymade Object to Be Destroyed, 1923 by French artist Man Ray. The work consisted of a metronome with a photograph of an eye attached to its swinging arm. The piece was intended as a silent witness watching him paint. In 1932 a second version, called Object of Destruction, was published in the avant-garde journal This Quarter, edited by André Breton. This version was an ink drawing of the Object to Be Destroyed with the following instructions; Cut out the eye from a photograph of one who has been loved but is seen no more. Attach the eye to the pendulum of a metronome and regulate the weight to suit the tempo desired. Keep going to the limit of endurance. With a hammer well-aimed, try to destroy the whole at a single blow. 1932 was the year Man Ray's lover, Lee Miller, left him to return to New York. Placed August 16-21, 2010 in New York. Each collage consists of a 1 3/4 x 2 3/4 inch glassine bag and two images of Object to Be Destroyed. On verso is the signifier word sticker, title of series, edition number and 22 photographs of my eye on hanging labels with purple string. Signifier words for this series are: Breton, eye, Eye-Metronome, hammer well-aimed, Indestructible Object, Lee Miller, Man Ray, metronome, Object of Destruction, Object to Be Destroyed, readymade, and single blow. Did you see one? Tell me.