P.LUCIDO SCURINI, DER WAHRE ERFINDER DER FOTOGRAFIE

BOOK, 21 × 27.5 CM, EDITION 20 PCS.
CABINET WITH DOCUMENTS AND IMAGES
EACH 26.6 × 19.5 CM, MIXED TECHNIQUE
1990/2007

Text by Annelies Bakker

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHY IS BELIEVED TO HAVE STARTED AROUND THE YEAR 1800, FIRST BY CAPTURING SHADOWS OF OBJECTS ON A LIGHT SENSITIVE SURFACE AND LATER ON SILVER CHLORIDE COATED PAPER. BUT THE WORK OF DORIS MAXIMILIANE WÜRGERT TELLS ANOTHER STORY.
IN 1987, WHILE DIGGING THE GROUND FOR THE RESTORATION OF AN OLD HOUSE IN ITALY, SHE ACCIDENTALLY FOUND A COLLECTION OF DIFFUSE PHOTOGRAPHS, DRAWINGS AND NOTES. THE DOCUMENTS WERE KEPT IN A WOODEN CASE WITH IRON MOUNTING. THE NOTES DATED BACK TO 1501 AND WERE SIGNED BY THE MONK P. LUCIDO SCURINI, A CONTEMPORARY OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.
DORIS MAXIMILIANE WÜRGERT FOUND OUT THAT, ASTONISHINGLY, THE IMAGES WERE MADE WITH A CAMERA OBSCURA AND A GUM BICHROMATE PROCESS. THIS MEANS THAT
THE INVENTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY COULD BE HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLDER THAN FIRST CLAIMED.
HER HYPOTHESIS WAS FORTIFIED BY A COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION THAT IS PRESENTED IN HER BOOK, P. LUCIDO SCURINI. DER WAHRE ERFINDER DER FOTOGRAFIE, WHICH IS EXHIBITED ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL, PRESERVED PHOTOGRAPHS AND DOCUMENTS. THE BOUNDARIES OF ARTISTIC FICTION AND SCIENTIFIC REALITY BLURS IN THE WORK OF DORIS M. WÜRGERT. BY INTERWEAVING OF PSEUDO-SCIENCE, TRUTH AND FICTION, SHE ESTABLISHES AN UNCERTAINTY OF ALL CONCLUSIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE APPARENT TRUTH.