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Comments by Rosemary
Jackson, DirectorMuseum of
Holography, February 1976.
From the catalog of the exhibit "Holografi
- Det 3-Dimensionella Mediet".
 The imagery in this
hologram is particularly interesting because it uses one hologram
within another hologram, an effect which produces a separate space
within another space. This is not a double exposure technique. There is
actually a holographic plate projecting a hologram within the
hologram. Dunkley has produced a concept of space in physical
reality that does not exist in natural physical reality - at least, as
far as we know. This 'modulation' of space is a unique aspect of
holography. It has the ability to record separate viewable states
of reality within one larger realm of real space. In other words,
a "space" with its own imagery, perspective and parallax can
exist within a larger holographic space having its own imagery,
perspective and parallax (which naturally includes the smaller space in
its overall imagery, as in en Dunkley's). It is
somewhat like a
three-dimensional collage technique, with the characteristic of
dimensionality giving it a phenomenally unique frame of reference, the
implications of which we are not wholly prepared to understand because,
as a concept and as a reality, we are not familiar enough with the world
of three-dimensions. It is a provoking phenomenon, and it has been
employed with extraordinary sensitivity in this piece.
However, the sole importance of this
piece is not that it uses a fascinating characteristic of
holography. The technical quality and creativity of the piece, the
direction it takes the viewer in, the direction it leads holography in,
mark it as one of the pivotal holograms in the development of holography
as an art form.
Comments by Rosemary Jackson, Director
Museum of Holography, February 1976. From the catalog of the exhibit "Holografi
- Det 3-Dimensionella Mediet".
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The New York Times
ARTS AND LEISURE
Sunday, May 11, 1975
Holograms: They Seem to
Float in Air
Peggy Sealfon
...One of the most fascinating works, "Thoughts," created
by a young physics instructor, Kenneth Dunkley, is actually a third generation
hologram ( a hologram of a hologram of a hologram) and shows a
remarkable use of three-dimensional space.
....Excerpted from a full page
article on holography.
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The Gleaner
August
29, 1982 (The major newspaper of Jamaica,
West Indies)
Holography: three dimensional art
form
by Tina Matkovic Spiro
Recently on a trip to New York,
I had the privilege of a guided tour of a unique
institution, the Museum of Holography at 14 Mercer
Street in the SoHo art district. I was introduced
to this extraordinary display by Carolyn Mulligan,
a member of the Board of the Museum and frequent
visitor to Jamaica.
.... text omitted....
Prior to visiting the Museum, I
had learned that a pioneer of Art Holography was
Ken Dunkley, grandson of the Intuitive Jamaican
Master John Dunkley. Ed Bush, a holographer
in charge of the Museum's workshop and good friend
of Ken Dunkley, gave the Gleaner the following
information regarding his work. "Ken Dunkley
is a Physicist in New Jersey for Princeton Applied
Research in experimental physics. From 1970-1975 he
worked at the New York School of Holography. One of
the few pieces from the period that has held up is
Dunkley's piece called "Thoughts", one of
the first pieces of Holographic Art in America, and
one that is still beautiful. The concept is
timeless and symbolizes the goal of holographic
art, which is to understand the aesthetic of
Holography, plus science, physics and man's place
in the Universe".
That Hologram
"Thoughts," which is unfortunately
illustrated in 2-dimensions here, draws one to
think of Grandfather John Dunkley,'s moody and
mystical receding landscapes. Can this
sensitivity have skipped a generation and
re-emerged? Uniquely, Ken Dunkley made this one and
only superb Hologram and no others. As if he said
it all in one work, which perhaps he did. There is
a traveling exhibition of Holography called
"Through the Looking Glass", which broke
all attendance records at the Israel Museum in
Jerusalem last year. Perhaps we could be fortunate
enough some time in the future to view this
exhibition in Jamaica with the addition of
Dunkley's work.
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L.A.S.E.R. NEWS
Vol. VIII # 4, Winter 1988/89
By Bruce
Goldberg Holography came to
the attention of a few pioneering artists in the
early 1970's who perceived the opening up of an
entirely new medium. With the proliferation
of holography in the early 1980's via embossed
holograms and holographic galleries and museums throughout
the world, it has become appropriate to ask larger
questions about the development of the holographic
aesthetic. The most obvious of these is, what
are the significant holograms produced thus far? Early holograms
were generally quite crude, both technically and
artistically, but occasionally an exceptional piece
pointed the way toward a new medium of unique
capabilities. The first such piece, for this
reviewer, is Ken Dunkley's Thoughts (1973). A
laser-viewable transmission hologram, this piece
depicts a face drawn in the sand of a holographic
sand table with several mirrors positioned in the
sand so as to reflect parts of the scene and create
a staircase-like procession of images.
The artist's own Interpretation of this
piece Is illuminating. 'Its particular elements and
relationships were motivated by the idea that any
arbitrary subset of life can also represent the
whole. In this instance, sand, my daughters beach
rake, and a holographically winding staircase were
chosen... Five or six months after construction, I
conceptually realized the image for what it really
was: a three-dimensional representation of the flow
of our thoughts... that the image, per se, cannot
exist In our own physical space is as it should
be." Posy Jackson, founder of the Museum of
Holography in New York, has called Thoughts
"one of the pivotal holograms in the
development of holography as an art form."
The technique of
holograms-within-holograms has been used by several
artists, foremost among them Dan Schweitzer.
....Excerpted from a full page article
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LIGHT DIMENSIONS AT THE RPS
by Graham Saxby
This exhibition, which was
formally opened by Princess Margaret on Tuesday 21
June, was described by the President of the RPS in
his introductory speech as 'the most ambitious and
largest exhibition of holography ever held.'
....Ken Dunkley is a physicist
and engineer, and has the unusual distinction of
having made only one creative hologram in his
career, and that was ten years ago; but an image so
powerful as to have had a considerable influence an
subsequent artists. Shown for the first time in
this country, 'Thoughts' is a laser transmission
hologram of rare quality. It takes as its theme a
sandbox (a crude kind of optical table used by many
amateur holographers) which becomes the subject
itself. In the background are three steps, sweeping
down to the surface of the sand, which is raked
into concentric circular ridges; out of these
ridges, in the foreground, rises a bas-relief sand
culture of a face with a wry expression (a
self-portrait, perhaps?). This is a fascinating
work, and unlike many holograms it retains much of
its impact when reduced to two dimensions by
photography.
....Excerpted
from a four page article
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Village Voice
Jan 3, 1977
Holography Is Not a Four-Letter
Word
Holography is now an art form: It's fortunate
that images in the new museum are there for
historic, rather than aesthetic, reasons
By Howard A. Unger
For those individual imagemakers
who work uniquely, who abandon conformity, who
dissimilate and vary, who see the world
realistically through abstract technologies, who
have the capacity to resolve the incomprehensible,
who can compose images without the use of a camera
and, in so doing. present society with a totally
new way of seeing itself, thank God!
Imagine a laboratory isolated
from the outside world-vibration free, tenebrous; a
dark, limited space. Across a table, a beam of
coherent light cuts through the darkness, so
perfect, so powerful, so pure that it cannot be
found in nature. Split into several beams at
adjacent angles, the light of one or more beams
illuminates an object, while another crisscrosses
the object's reflected light image on a
photographic plate. The chemically processed plate,
viewed later under the same laser light source
reveals the object as fluorescent light sculpture;
dimensional, with real depth, chroma, texture, and
absolute detail.
The process of holography was
conceived by Dr. Dennis Gabor in 1947; it has been
refined and expanded upon ever since. First thought
of as a tool for scientific investigation, it has
now been recognized as an art form with the opening
of the Museum of Holography, 11 Mercer Street, New
York City.
Holography as art is not a
unique concept. The first holographic art
exhibition was held at the Cranbrook Acaderpy of
Art in Michigan in 1970. Five years later, the
International Center of Photography in New York
City featured: Holography '75: The First Decade;
the exhibition received mixed reviews. While
limited exhibition and productive work by scattered
individuals proceeded slowly in the Western
countries (mainly the United States, Germany, and
Sweden), the Soviet Union rapidly pushed ahead
research and production. Teams of scientists and
artists were given priority status to work in
elaborate state-financed laboratory facilities. New
developments, especially in holographic movies and
time-sequence pictures were made.
Art and photography critics in
the United States continue to contradict one
another over the medium's validity as art. Still
feared and misunderstood by artists, photographers,
educators, and critics, holography now has another
opportunity. One hopes the museum's opening will
reestablish holography's precedence in- the United
States and the West. …Text omitted
Fortunately, most of the
holograms in the show are of far greater artistic
consequence. Thoughts, by Kenneth Dunkley,
uses the holographic space as a limitless dimension
reflected into infinity. Here is a subaerial sand
portrait, not unlike man's first prehistoric
attempt at representing himself. This crude image
presents holography as an antinomy, a clear plastic
paradox. Man drew lines in soft earth; he traced
shadows and made outline of himself on cave walls.
They can be found today at Altamira in Spain and
Lascaux in France. Yet holography is distinctive. …
Excerpted from a full page
article
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Encore
October 1974
Laser Art
A hologram is a kind of
three-dimensional "photograph." A laser
beam reflected from the object being holographed is
directed onto a photosensitive glass plate. No
picture becomes visible on the plate, but when a
laser beam is later focused on the plate a
three-dimensional life-like image of the object
holographed appears like magic in space. Kenneth
Dunkley, a young Black physics instructor, is
quickly becoming an important holographer. He began
working on a problem in holography for his Ph.D. in
physics, but soon found himself making holograms
just for "fun." He talks about them as if
he were an artist describing his painting. His
Space Children illustrates this wedding of science
and art, and Thoughts has not only been acclaimed
as first-rate art, but is considered an example of
the furthest the medium has been carried to date.
In November an exhibition of his holograms will be
held at the New York School of Holography, 120 West
20th Street, New York City.
Space Children: Wedding of
science and art (photo omitted here)
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The Atlanta Journal Thursday.
March 1, 1979 .....
Dunkley Clan Exhibit Entertaining Look at 75 Years of Talent
By
W.C.Burnett
"Seventy-Five Years of the Dunkley
Family" contains so many interesting
facets that it has to be one of the most unusual
shows in the Atlanta area
It includes works by John Dunkley, a
78-year-old Jamaica-born painter and wood carver who
became quite noted with exhibits in London and New
York, and works by his grandsons Kenneth and
Ernest and grand-daughter Tina. Tina Dunkley's work is
familiar on the
Atlanta scene.
John Dunkley's work is properly
classified as being that of the untutored, naive
artist. Still, he evolved very expressive images of
people and symbols such as spider webs, trees and
animals. l@ technique is very concise, and his
pictures poetic. They are darker than one Might
expect, for unlike the brightly patterned, decorative
stuff turned out by so many Haitians and some
Jamaicans, his, work is meant to convey really
subjective feelings.
The wood carvings are lighter in a
way. They include a smiling girl seated on a stool, a
woman's hip, a heeled shoe, and an impossibly
contorted acrobat.
A slide projector enables the
viewer to see more examples of his work than are
available for hanging.
Ernest Dunkley, who got his start
as a photo technician in the Air Force, is represented
with several photo-graphs, colorful, picturesque
subjects from Belize and Guatemala. His most important
representative work is "A light in the
Darkness," a film he produced on the black
businessman, A.C. Gaston. It’s a good, expressive
film.
Kenneth Dunkley is an engineer,
and his 'involvement with physical things is shown
in his photographs, which include pictures of a
ship's rudder, splashing water, the shape of
primitive boats in the Caribbean, and scenes from
Brooklyn. It's tight, well disciplined work.
(The reviewer did not see his
hologram)
Tina Dunkley is on the Neighborhood
Art Center faculty and worked with the Georgia Art Bus
and with City of Atlanta parks programs. Her stained
glass images are best known, but she makes trapunto
quilts which are marvels.
She uses batik-dyed images which
are sewn accord. ing to the divisions of the images
and stuffed. They look like naive paintings from afar,
but are really sensitive, highly stylized quilts. She
even manages a bit of portraiture in them, as in
"Alberta at Camp Wesley," which shows a
figure reclining on a couch.
The show is at Handshake Gallery, 401 W. Peachtree
St. NE through March 30.
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Send mail to kendunkley@3-DVG.com
with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright 1999. K. J. Dunkley / Last
modified: September 12, 1999
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