Beneath The Street | List | Print
Kieran Boland,
Nagraographs, 2024. Digital prints on Epson Paper.
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 multiple strips of sticky tape applied to photocopied images before the paper support is dissolved in warm water, leaving only photocopier toner adhered to the tape. These translucent fragments are then reassembled to construct a new series of Nagra-derived images. The Nagra SN remains a highly coveted, beautifully engineered and compact reel-to-reel machine. Small enough to be concealed, it was frequently used for clandestine operations by the CIA and other intelligence agencies. Nagraographs echo the original machine’s transformation from invisible recording device to fetishised object. The initially transparent sticky tape collapses distinctions as it becomes the object, the image, and the process. The work reflects on the dematerialisation of recording technologies and a recurring cycle: 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.