Marit Grøtta

Playing with Optical Toys. Techniques of Visual Play from 19th Century Popular Culture to Marcel Duchamp

During the first half of the 19th century, a number of optical instruments were in- vented to explore the workings of vision, such as the , the , and the phenakistoscope. Experiments with these instruments revealed that vision could be altered, and that the human eye could be manipulated and recoded. Soon these instruments were turned into toys for the masses and optical experimentation became an occupation for everyone. However, not only did such devices become a main feature of 19th century popular culture; little by little, they also gained influ- ence in the field of art. In this essay, I want to explore the boundaries between instruments, toys, and art objects, as well as the exchange between the fields of technology, popular culture, and the arts. My first section discusses the optical devices that were popularised during the 19th century, the second a number of devices that appear to have many features in common with the optical instruments of the 19th century but which have – at least partially – entered the domain of art: the visual devices created by Marcel Duchamp. It is well known that Duchamp ‘left art behind’ at an early point in his career and devoted himself to a number of experiments with movement and vision. Aiming to create a totally new sensorium, he devised a series of ‘visual machines’ that completely destabilized human vision. What these devises have in common with the optical toys of the 19th century is the fact that they allow the beholders to expand their visual register. My aim will be to explore how these devices enable various kinds of interaction and usages and how they relate to processes of subjectivization. In particular, I want to discuss to what degree such devices should be considered instrumental objects that impose a certain use or effect on the beholder, and to what degree they should be considered toys providing multiple possibilities for interaction. Put differently: are these devices to be regarded as disciplinary instruments or as devices inviting experimental forms of play?

Optical Toys in 19th Century Popular Culture

The optical toys that became widely used in the 19th century originated from a series of scientific experiments on subjective vision. A number of instruments were de- vised to explore various visual conditions and phenomena: how does binary vision work? How does vision unfold over time? How does vision respond to the refrac- 348 Marit GrØtta tions of light? One of the earliest inventions was the kaleidoscope, an instrument for the study of reflections of light, patented by in 1817. From a technological point of view, this instrument might be described as a tube containing loose pieces of coloured glass and other tiny objects. These pieces were reflected by mirrors or glass set at angles and created symmetrical patterns when viewed through the end of the tube. In his book The Kaleidoscope – Its History, Theory, and Construction (1819/1858) Brewster emphasised the number of variations that could be obtained by changing the parameters: the number of mirrors employed, their angles, the shapes of the small objects, plus light, distance, and – of course – motion. Although the instrument was originally designed to study reflections of light, Brewster was highly conscious as well of its aesthetic value: by turning the kaleidoscope, one could experience innumerable beautiful forms. Brewster even claimed that the variation of colors in mathematical patterns might afford the same kind of pleasure as does the variation of tones in music. Accordingly, the kaleidoscope could be described as ‘music for the eye’. He also explained the name he had given the instrument: “The name Kaleidoscope, which I have given to a new Optical Instrument, for creating and exhibiting beautiful forms, is derived from the Greek words, καλός, beautiful; εἶδος, a form; and σκοπέω, to see.”1 Thus, kaleidoscope means ‘the beautiful form-seer’; it is a device that is constructed to produce beautiful forms. Soon after its invention, the kaleidoscope was manufactured as a toy and rapidly became immensely popular. Brewster describes this development in his book:

The sensation excited by this premature exhibition of its effects is incapable of de- scription, and can be conceived only by one of those who witnessed it. ‘It very quickly became popular,’ says Dr. Roget, in his excellent article on the Kaleidoscope in the Encyclopædia Britannica, ‘and the sensation it excited in London throughout all ranks of people was astonishing. It afforded delight to the poor as well as the rich; to the old as well as the young. Large cargoes of them were sent abroad, particularly to the East Indies. They very soon became known throughout Europe, and have been met with by travellers even in the most obscure and retired village in Switzerland.’ According to the computation of those who were best able to form an opinion of the subject, no fewer than two hundred thousand instruments were sold in London and Paris during three months.2

The kaleidoscope is still a popular toy today, even though its scientific origin is more or less forgotten. The , the zootrope, and the phenakistoscope, on the other hand, are more obscure in our day. These devices were all invented to explore the workings of a curious optical phenomenon: the after-image, a visual ‘echo’, as it were, that persists on the retina after the object under inspection has been removed. Experiments with this phenomenon revealed that vision unfolded in time and that visual time-gaps could actually be ‘filled in’ by an after-image. This

1 Brewster, David, The Kaleidoscope, Its History, Theory And Construction With Its Application to the Fine And Useful Arts, 2d ed., London 1858, p. 1. 2 Ibid, p. 7.