MARK RUCKER •
PHANTOM • GRAPHITE DRAWINGS
A RYGA CHAPBOOK
PHANTOM MARK RUCKER “ In the late 1970s Mark Rucker embarked on creating a series of graphite drawings, which he entitled the ‘phantom’ series, which grew out of two fascinations. The first was with graphite, which is more commonly called pencil lead. The second fascination was with combining images from different places and times, to create believable situations, which never could have happened. He worked on this series for about a decade, employing pictorial material found in magazine advertisements, stereo views, Victorian cabinet photos, old postcards, and grainy newspaper photos. A few compelling ideas led him to start this project, ideas which kept him interested during the months of doing the intricate and demanding work.” – from the introduction by Mark Rucker is the author of numerous books, and operates a publishing and picture agency, and his collection has attracted the attention of collectors, publications ranging from the New York Times to children's books, to Ken Burns' Emmy Award winning 1994 documentary Baseball. A tiny fraction of his photographic and lithographic collection appears on his website www.theruckerarchive.com.
A RYGA CHAPBOOK Published by Ryga: A Journal of Provocations Okanagan College, Vernon BC in association with the Okanagan Institute Limited edition of 100 copies. $5 Also available online at www.ryga.ca
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MARK RUCKER
PHANTOM
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A Ryga Chapbook
1. Phantom Heresy.
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PHANTOM • GRAPHITE DRAWINGS
A RYGA CHAPBOOK Okanagan College & the Okanagan Institute 2009
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2. Miracle of Science.
The Graphite Imagination In the late 1970s Mark Rucker embarked on creating a series of graphite drawings, we he entitled the ‘phantom’ series, which grew out of two fascinations. The first was with graphite, which is more commonly called pencil lead. The second fascination was with combining images from different places and times, to create believable situations, which never could have happened. He worked on this series for about a decade, employing pictorial material found in magazine advertisements, stereo views, Victorian cabinet photos, old postcards, and grainy newspaper photos. A few compelling ideas led him to start this project, ideas which kept him interested during the months of doing the intricate and demanding work.
Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
As Rucker explains, “The coordinates in time and space in which photographic images are recorded exist but momentarily. As soon as coordinates are established they disappear to be replaced by a new set, which in turn is gone, and then replaced by another, and so on. Within our capability of understanding, there is thus no real point isolated in space and time, but a thread of coordinates, which in turn intersects with other threads, which in turn form web-like patterns so complex that they cannot be isolated or completely recorded in any way. Photographs lock on one point, movie film locks onto a thread of coordinates, but neither can go beyond these inherent limitations. These points, isolated as they are, act like phantoms, here and then immediately gone. The phantom recording of light in time is the camera’s job. “I wanted to take the record of light one step further in some spooky drawings, which if successful, would serve as ideograms. I found that by placing characters from an 1880 photo into a decidedly different, e.g. art deco, photographic background, a further quality of the phantom could be achieved, and by combining photographic images, properly scaled, and unifying them in a graphite-on-paper medium, a new visual continuity could be created. Through photographic technology the photomontage can allow multiple images to be combined into a single image, but the effect seldom reaches a visual level beyond a intentionally constructed confusion, or an anomaly. By transferring the image combinations into another medium, in this case graphite, a believable continuity occurs in surface appearance and strange things happen to the depicted scenes. “There is a special life in graphite, and when you work with it a lot, you become sensitive to its possibilities. 9H graphite is so hard you can cut the paper surface with it, while 9B graphite is so soft that it melts like butter onto the page, building up a deep, reflective surface. The qualities of the graphite itself helped breathe life into the phantom series, but the drawings look entirely different in person than printed on a page. I can only hope that seeing these accompanying reproductions as ink on a page enhances rather than diminishes the phantom effect.” – Robert MacDonald
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3. Phantom Janus.
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4. Shadow Puppet.
Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
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5. Phantom Labor.
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6. Phantom Laughter.
Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
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8. Phantom Vacation.
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7. Phantom Procession.
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Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
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9. Phantom Observer.
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10. Metatron.
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11. Experiment.
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12. Phantom Interview.
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13. Phantom Deposit.
14. Ceremonial.
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15. Phantom Architecture.
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Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
16. Phantom Mischief.
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17. Adventure in Florida.
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Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
18. Turnabout.
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Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
19. Phantom Operation.
20. Phantom Invocation.
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21. Imposter.
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Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
DESCRIPTION & PROVENANCE 1. Phantom Heresy. 9”x7”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo sources: Postcard c.1910, Ceylon. Photograph, Wesleyan University Alumni Journal, c.1984. 2. Miracle of Science. 9”x5”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo sources: Background from a German technology catalog, c.1905. Foreground from a photo at a psychiatric center, where these two unnamed characters would show up for every photo taken in the unit, c.1979. 3. Phantom Janus. 8”x5.5”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo sources: Background NYC subway wall, c.1981. Foreground Jan Sutcliffe, a friend, c.1980. 4. Shadow Puppet. 6.5”x5.5”. Graphite on Paper. Artist’s Collection. Photo source: Newsprint photo, 1941. 5. Phantom Labor. 9”x5”. Graphite on Paper. Artist’s Collection. Photo source: Newsprint photo, c.1980. 6. Phantom Laughter. 9”x5.5”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo sources: Background Factory control room photo, c.1910. Foreground Margot Hemingway from fashion advertisement, c.1978. 7. Phantom Procession. 17”x13”. Graphite on Paper. Artist’s Collection. Photo source: newsprint photo c.1955.
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8. Phantom Vacation. 9.5”x6”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo sources: Background South Dakota badlands from Tourist photo pack, 1935. Foreground Two Tunisian women from postcard, c.1915. 9. Phantom Observer. 8.5”x6”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo Sources: Background photograph Boboli Gardens, 1982. Foreground prisoner from Italian prison, c.1930. 10. Metatron. 17”x11”. Graphite on Paper. Artist’s Collection. Photo Source: interior National Park fire tower, Colorado, c.1935. 11. Experiment. 9”x7”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo Sources: Background Nicholas Tesla Experimental Electrical Lab, Colorado Springs, Colorado, c.1900. Foreground Don King at World Boxing Association celebration, c.1975. 12. Phantom Interview. 7.5”x5”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo source: Newsprint photo, c.1979. 13. Phantom Deposit. 8”x6”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo source: Background English countryside photograph, c.1925. Foreground actor from silent movie promotional still, c.1920. 14. Ceremonial. 16”x7”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo sources: Background Stonehenge, c.1950. Foreground clowns and stage performers from cabinet photos made in Cambridge, Mass., c.1870 and Germany, c.1890.
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Mark Rucker Phantom Graphite Drawings
15. Phantom Architecture. 11”x9”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo Sources: Background countryside scene in Holland, 1912. Foreground characters from stage revue at architects convention in New York City, c.1930. 16. Phantom Mischief. 7”x17”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo Sources: Background church of Santa Maria della Victoria, Rome, sculpture The Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila Foreground: newsprint photo, c.1983. 17. Adventure in Florida. 7”x7.5”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo Sources: Background stereo view scene of palm forest, Florida, 1900. Foreground silent movie actor from lobby card, c.1915. 18. Turnabout. 10”x10”. Graphite on Paper. Artist’s Collection. Photo Sources: Background stereo view scene from Albany, New York, 1895. Foreground friends at a picnic table. 19. Phantom Operation. 6”x9”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo Source: Medical magazine photo. 20. Phantom Invocation. 7”x9”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo Sources: Background interior Sienna Cathedral, Sienna, Italy Foreground of artist, posing. 21. Imposter. 12”x19”. Graphite on Paper. Private Collection. Photo source: Magazine photo, 1938, Italy.
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Copyright Š 2009 Mark Rucker. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author. A RYGA CHAPBOOK This chapbook is an excerpt from Issue 1 of Ryga: A Journal of Provocations published as part of the Ryga Initiative of Okanagan College, Vernon BC in association with the Okanagan Institute. Also available online at www.ryga.ca COLOPHON
Edited by Sean Johnston Designed by Robert MacDonald EMGDC, and printed at Okanagan College. Published November 2009 in a limited edition of 100 copies numbered by the designer and signed by the author. This is copy number Mark Rucker is the author of numerous books, including The Beer and Whisky League: The Illustrated History of the American Association, and Detroit Aces: The First 75 Years. Rucker received the Tony Salin Award in 2007 from the Baseball Reliquary for his contribution to preserving the history of the game. He operates a publishing and picture agency since 1986, and his collection has attracted the attention of collectors, publications ranging from the New York Times to children's books, to Ken Burns' Emmy Award winning 1994 documentary Baseball. A tiny fraction of his photographic and lithographic collection appears on his website www.theruckerarchive.com.