Photo-Transformation
April 22, 1974
After graduating from Rutgers University in 1959, Samaras participated in "Happenings" in New York City. Staged in lofts and studios, these spontaneous events fused elements of Surrealist spectacle and street theater with banal activities. Since that time Samaras has often made imaginative use of his body as an instrument. For the "Photo-Transformation" series he took instant photographs of himself and quickly messed up parts of their surfaces so that the images did not develop normally. The artist destroyed and recreated himself at the same time, unleashing weird, often scary images.
Internal dye diffusion transfer print (Polaroid film)
3 1/8 x 3 1/16 in. (7.9 x 7.8cm)
General Acquisition Fund
75.5
Provenance: The artist; [Pace Gallery, New York]; purchased by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1975