The Genius of Man Ray

The Genius of Man Ray

By Angela M. Bates

Introduction

During the early 1900’s, American artists began seeking a broader view for artistic expression. Many turned their eyes across the Atlantic to Paris, a haven for those seeking new ways to express themselves. One such artist was Man Ray, nee Emmanuel Radnitzky. Man Ray arrived in Paris in 1921 and stayed almost two decades. During this time, he made contributions to the world of art through painting, photography, filmmaking, and ready made objects. One such contribution is the creation of Indestructible Object, 1923, a clear example of Man Ray’s ability to juxtapose seemingly unrelated objects to create deeper meaning and perception.

The Early Years

Man Ray was born on August 27, 1890 in Philadelphia to Jewish parents. His family moved to New York in 1897, shortly after “Manny”, as close relatives called him, turned seven. His first foray into painting began shortly after this, when he was given a box of crayons for his birthday. This coincided with the time when the battleship Mainewas blown up by the Spaniards in Havana. The newspapers were full of photographs of this calamity, and young Manny’s imagination was captured by pictures of this magnificent vessel. He began drawing pictures of the Maine, drawings which were considered extremely accurate considering his tender age. His relatives only wondered about his choice of colors. Even at such a young age, Man Ray was already questioning accepted standards, something which he would continue to do his entire life.

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After high school, Man Ray spurned scholarships to study architecture in favor of becoming an artist, a career choice which his steadfastly middle class parents did not wholly support. Man Ray found it difficult, at first, to acclimate to the academic world of technical drawing and painting. He viewed the standard practices as slow and time consuming, and not able to capture the creative idea.

It was not until he enrolled at the FerrerCenter in New York City that he found his niche. The FerrerCenter was a progressive educational institution, and also the leading location for anarchist activity. At Ferrer Man Ray was taught to work quickly and spontaneously, concepts which appealed to his dynamic, unconventional approach to art-making.

The Paris Years

It has been said that “if anything unites the bewildering diversity of Man Ray’s work, it is perhaps his overriding fascination with women”.[1] No where is this more evident than in the avant-garde work Man Ray produced during his almost twenty years in Paris.

Man Ray arrived in Paris in 1921, shortly after his close friend, Marcel Duchamp, moved there. It was Duchamp who introduced Man Ray to the potency of ready made objects. While in Paris, Man Ray earned a living as a professional fashion and portrait photographer, while pursuing more creative work on the side. He met an endless array of Parisian artists and became the photographer to the intellectual elite, among them Breton, Joyce, Matisse, Stein, and Hemingway.

Man Ray has been associated with Cubist, Dadaist, and Surrealist movements, but he never wished to be pigeonholed or categorized as such. He believed, rather, that “Art simply varies in its sources of inspiration and in its modes of execution. It can vary within one man, depending on his curiosity and on his sense of freedom… The real experiment is in proportion to the desire to discover and enjoy.”[2]

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Although Man Ray is known largely for his avant-garde photography, he mainly delighted in producing disturbing juxtapositions, and ready made objects allowed him great liberty in achieving this. His 1923 Indestructible Object is a wooden metronome with a photograph of an eye added to the pendulum. “Ticking from side to side, the pendulum still marks the passage of time. But the eye stares out at the onlooker, who might well become transfixed by its beguiling, shameless gaze. Less than ten inches high, the object’s modest size is outweighed by its ability to mesmerize. In a perpetual state of vacillation, the eye ends up frustrating anyone who wants to pin down the work’s significance.”[3]

With this work, Man Ray questions the perpetual motif of time and

existence. Indestructible Object was originally titled Object to be Destroyed. When Man Ray’s lover, Lee Miller, left him in 1932, he replaced the eye on the metronome with one of Lee Miller’s eye, and gave the piece a new name: Object of Destruction. In 1957, a group of students saw the piece at the Exposition Dada in Paris and decided to take the title literally, smashing the object. Man Ray was duly compensated by the insurance companies, with the caveat that the title be changed, and hence it was once again altered to its current name, Indestructible Object. Despite the defiance implied within this title, it is still a “vulnerable” work, but perhaps Man Ray wanted to imply that this work could be repeated indefinitely (he in fact bought a whole stock of metronomes with the insurance money). Man Ray’s ability to infuse thought and meaning into seemingly household objects is a source of the ingenuity of his craft. The subverted meaning within this piece, as in many of Man Ray’s works, continues to resonate despite the passage of time.

Bibliography

Sources from the ArtCenter:

Schwarz, Arturo, Man Ray: The Rigour of Imagination, New York: Rizzoli, 1977.

Transatlantic Avant-garde: American Artists in Paris 1918-1939, museum catalog, p. 139-142

Sources from the Internet:

[1] www. Tate.org.uk/magazine/issue3/eyeofthebeholder.htm.

[2]NationalMuseum of American Art (CD-ROM) (New York and WashingtonDC: MacMillan Digital)

[3]