Halász, Károly: Modulated television I (Byzantium) (1972)

gelatin silver print on paper mounted on canvas
Purchased with support from the National Cultural Fund, 2014
Keywords

Since the 1970s, KÁROLY HALÁSZ has been a leading figure in Hungarian contemporary art. The 1972 work is based on the meeting of an art history documentary on Byzantium, which was shown on Hungarian television, and two rectangles. It is in fact a photo action: the artist drew the rectangles on sheets of cellophane, which he stuck to the TV screen, and took a picture of the random composition every three minutes. The still, geometric figure collides with temporality, chance and the representational, historical content of the film, while the axonometric drawing gives spatiality to the images on the screen. The end result of the photo-action is the work itself; Halasz has applied the 36 prints to a canvas with glue.