{"data":{"id":"7728","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":7728,"topgoose_id":1374,"tms_id":7728,"display_name":"Anthony McCall","sort_name":"McCall Anthony","display_date":"1946–","begin_date":"1946","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003eSince the early 1970s, Anthony McCall\nhas taken a revolutionary approach toward\nexperimental filmmaking through his\nongoing series of projected light installations\nthat are poised at the intersection of\nfilm, sculpture, drawing, and performance.\nHis series \u003cem\u003eSolid Light\u003c/em\u003e deconstructs the\nbasic components of cinematic space—\nprojection, light, darkness, duration—\nthat require a phenomenological encounter\nwith the work as opposed to the passive\nviewing of conventional narrative film.\nMcCall completed his studies in graphic\ndesign at the Ravensbourne College\nof Art and Design in London in the mid-1960s\nand became an active member of the\navant-garde artist collective the London\nFilmmakers Cooperative. He began\nusing film to document his outdoor\nperformance works and soon became\nfascinated with the medium itself,\nexploring its possibilities and limitations.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMade shortly after moving to New York\nin 1973,\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/15286\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eLine Describing a Cone\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e is McCall’s\nfirst\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;Solid Light\u003c/em\u003e film. When projected\nin a room filled with mist generated by a\nfog machine, the 16mm film creates a\nphysical beam of light that slowly traces a\ncircle until a single conical plane exits\nas a volume of light piercing the room. As\nviewers walk through the installation,\ntheir bodies interrupt the geometric volume\nof light. To McCall the film deals directly\nwith projected light, “one of the irreducible,\nnecessary conditions of film,” and “is the\nfirst film to exist solely in real, three-\ndimensional, space.” The film led to further\nexplorations of projected forms such\nas ellipses, waves, planes, and lines that\ncontract, expand, fade, and reappear.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500122534","wikidata_id":"Q324807","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:22:17.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:02:22.481-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/7728/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/7728/exhibitions"}}}}