Schadographie Nr. 19

Schadographs were made at a period when I had a liking for any trifles that could be picked up in the street, in shop window displays, in cafés, and even in dustbins. Most of these objects I found attractive and useful, particularly if they were damaged. Then they had a patina, and held a kind of magic for me. Having found them, it was a matter of making a composition in such a way that something new resulted, and a fresh immediate reality emerged. Christian Schad combined forms gleaned from disparate sources, including a popped balloon, placing them directly onto the photographic paper and making the exposure without the use of a camera. By doing so he created a coherent, formalist composition that explored light and texture, shapes and densities against an irregular black ground. The oval shape with recognizable lettering, placed on the diagonal, mimics the arched upper right corner of the black area, which frames all of the objects on the paper.