My First 10 Years as Artist/Holographer (1968-1977)

Abstract

but structured patterns, reminiscent of Constructivist art, though my philosophy is unlike that of Constructivism [9]. Ultimately, Holos 17 (1973), a laser transmission hologram (Fig. 3), was the result. A concave hemisphere recorded in the first exposure was turned around in the darkness between exposures so that it became a convex hemisphere. When recorded in the second exposure, the convex hemisphere met the light pattern of the concave hemisphere, whereupon we had a complete sphere, not outlined as such but formed by its own laser light pattern. We intended to use the laser transmission holograms as exhibition pieces, with the best of them as masters for white-light transmission imagery that would project frontally. Although segments of the H 1 (master) pseudoscopic design could be seen from a distance of approximately 30 ft, which I found tantalizing (and have shown this way), the total HI image was too large to emerge through the H2 plates to be seen easily at a moderate distance. Furthermore, the second-generation white-light holograms seemed to have unfathomable problems other than size. After much searching, it was finally determined that the emulsion on the secondgeneration plates was defective (we had been using Agfa-Gevaert 8E75; as all holographers know, it is not unusual to receive a batch of plates with imperfect emulsion). Since we had to redo the H2s, we put Fig. 4. Equivocal Forks I, laser transmission hologram, plate 11x 14 in, pseudoscopic image projecting in front of the plate = 24 to 30 in, 1977. (Photo: Nisham Bichajian) Using a cluster of forks as the object, I placed much effort in the frontally projected imagery so that the glass would not be an obstruc-