The copy machines of today get a lot of action from office temps and owners of lost dogs, but did you know that the xerox machine has played a small-but crucial-role in modern art? Xerography, a new exhibition at a UK gallery called FirstSite, explored how this 75-year-old technology has been leveraged in the most unlikely of ways.
The first greyscale xerographic image was made in 1938 by Queens-based inventor Chester Carlton, who used electrostatic charges and dry toners instead of liquid chemicals to make a print. The technique was developed by the Haloid Photographic Company, later renamed Xerox after the success of its first commercial photocopier that used the concept in 1959. The 1960s and 70s saw a boom in conceptual experimentation with this new, unexpectedly creative tool, and the introduction of full-color into the mix in the early 70s further expanded the possibilities. read more here