Light Off / Light On

William Wegman

1970 · Gelatin silver prints · Photographs

The task of turning a light on or off is as minimal as pressing the shutter release on a camera. In this diptych, one of the first photographic works Wegman made in California, the artist eschews art photography’s dependence on fancy technique, perfect moments, and surprising subjects, and instead opts for a witty play on sameness and difference via banal scenes and actions. Like his contemporary John Baldessari, Wegman asks the viewer to locate the art in images thoroughly evacuated of traditional signifiers of meaning: Does it reside in the object itself, the subject depicted, or simply in the mind of the viewer?

Artist

William Wegman

Date

1970

Medium

Gelatin silver prints

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gift of the artist, 2017