Analysis, Development and Reconstruction of Pre-Photographic Devices for Art

Certain teleological interpretations of the history of art and technology have regarded optical representation devices merely as precursors to photography. In our work, we conduct a theoretical and practical analysis of these devices, assessing their value as tools for assisting in the creation of images by hand.

Drawing on our experience in reconstructing and using them in practice, we propose a typological classification based on their technical and functional characteristics. This classification makes it possible to define the specific graphic, pictorial and audiovisual resources they generate.

The technology developed is thus situated within the fields of image archaeology and pictorial and artistic practice. Its aim is not so much to reconstruct the devices themselves as to recreate the experience they offer to users and viewers. This methodology combines historical sources, theoretical reflection and practical experimentation to deepen our understanding of both the history of artistic traditions and their continued presence in contemporary media.

This technology can be used to illustrate and generate new visual, plastic and sound-based resources for a range of fields, including art installations, art and science exhibitions, visual and audiovisual creation and advertising.

The approach combines historical devices with new technologies, drawing on moving images, music creation and digital imagery.

Within the university sector in Spain, this is a relatively new discipline.

Technological obsolescence, a sign of the times, has led to many media artefacts being displaced from their original roles as they lose the technological effectiveness for which they were designed. At the same time, researchers and artists are recovering these devices because of their distinctive capabilities, which current media cannot reproduce. They restore their original functions or develop new uses and applications to address contemporary challenges.

For more than 15 years, we have worked with technologies used in Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) to capture and record sounds and images fluctuating within the electromagnetic spectrum. This work involves audiovisual electronic devices and instruments considered obsolete, such as tape recorders, cathode-ray tube televisions, analogue radios, video cameras and pre-photographic devices such as the camera lucida and camera obscura. Recording media range from manual recording to magnetic tape.

Based on these practices, we propose a conceptual and practical framework for capturing, recovering, visualising and sonifying hidden information that forms part of each individual’s unconscious, their surroundings and other levels of consciousness and perception.

The potential applications of this research are directly linked to artistic practices involving media archaeology and the evolution of audiovisual technologies towards digital media. The aim is to contribute solutions to the new challenges that arise in the search for innovative ways of making art.

Several devices have already been designed, and we are developing application protocols for their use across different fields of art, visual creation and audiovisual production.

• Art Galleries and Museums (for art and science exhibitions).
• Advertising and Branding Agencies (for campaigns with strong creative value).
• Independent Audiovisual Production (experimental film and video art).
• Academic Institutions (for research into art history and new media).

Iván Albalate – Department of Art