László Moholy-Nagy’s Light Prop as Design Fiction: Perspectives on Conservation and Replication

Abstract

Light Prop for an Electric Stage was presented in 1930 as a prototype for a new kind of mechanical theater that was meant to spark future partnerships between art and industry. Although it was never put into industrial production, Light Prop circulated as an early example of kinetic sculpture, as documented in a highly composed film, in photographs and in textual accounts. In 2016, the Harvard Art Museums and metaLAB (at) Harvard filmed Light Prop and its 2006 replica under highly controlled conditions. The resulting comparative media reveals how László Moholy-Nagy’s film served as the “design fiction” guiding the replication and conservation of Light Prop.

Moholy-Nagy’s Light Prop for an Electric Stage. Design, Copies and Reproductions

“…He remarked that the Light Prop displayed at the Paris exhibition represented only a modest initial attempt to introduce the possibilities of light technology to the public (Tsai 2010, 293). The fact is that it broke when it was displayed first in Paris (Tsai et al 2017). Like a precious piece of Art, Moholy-Nagy took the device with him around the world, no matter the cost.…”