School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfeld, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ UK

Abstract
This paper explores the tradition and current usage of text in fine-art holography. Transporting written material from a page or a computer screen into another medium profoundly alters or influences the meaning of the words and the visual context they then inhabit. Fine-art holographers have used text and lettering in their work in many ways to enrich the communication between artist and audience. Some of these explorations have included: using text to escape the mimetic element of the medium of holography; expanding on the effects of concrete poetry using movement in three-dimensions; incorporating text and lettering in holographic images as a metaphor for the storage of knowledge; and using fragments of text and lettering to depict or emphasise the diffculties inherent in communicating through both media – art and writing. This paper examines some of these approaches and argues the interactive effect of text and image allows the holographic artist to reach towards a deeper communication with the audience.

A pdf version of this paper is available for download here.

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