Vision in Motion – Moholy-Nagy Book
Tactile Chart in Bent Plastic
BJ Student Work
Institute of Design -Chicago 1946
Vision in Motion was Moholy-Nagy’s exploration of the curriculum of the Institute of Design in Chicago (ID). Central to the book is the belief in ‘the interrelatedness of art and life’. Moholy-Nagy died in 1946, and his book was published a year later.Vision in Motion is illustrated with photographs of work created by the author, his faculty and his students. Significantly these illustrations accompany the relevant text, a marked departure from the convention of reproducing illustrations as plates in only one part of the book.Among them, in Chapter III, ‘New Education – Organic Approach’, is a sculptural piece, Tactile Chart in Bent Plastic, made by BJ in 1944 when he was only 18. It must have been a novice project, set in BJ’s first year at ID and its inclusion is testimony to his favored status by Moholy. It was an achievement of which BJ was immensely proud. Much later, around 1967, BJ’s colleague Piers Jessop came across the picture by chance. Bounding in to work to confront BJ with his discovery, Jessop only had to utter the words ‘Vision in Motion’ before he was met with BJ’s response ‘Page 77’. BJ then ambled back to his office, playing it cool, but his glee at Jessop’s find was unmistakable. The reproduction of BJ’s piece is fairly large, possibly even full-scale, which would make the object itself about the size and width of a standard ruler. It is made of a strip of plexiglass, bent into a swooping curve with various materials including leather, wire and some kind of furry fabric riveted to its surface. It is lit to cast a clear shadow, a technique that creates a precise impression of its underside. ‘Tactile charts’ are described in Vision in Motion as exercises in form and texture and, in the caption to BJ’s work, Moholy suggests that they could have ‘practical applications such as the design of better steering wheels, handles for refrigerators or telephones’. In 1959 the influence of BJ’s education on his commercial work was revisited with his ‘tactile chart’ on a grand scale, when he created his iconic Christmas Sculpture for Pepsi Cola.
Vision in Motion – Moholy-Nagy Book
Tactile Chart in Bent Plastic
BJ Student Work
Institute of Design -Chicago 1946
Vision in Motion cloth cover Chicago 1947
Vision in Motion cover Chicago 1947