Artist Man Ray, a famous American abstract artist in his own right, had moved to Paris in 1921 to join the thriving artist community the city harbored. He accidentally discovered a process that early photography in the mid-1800's did before moving on, the photogram. It was a process where objects are placed on photographic paper and exposed to light--and all without a camera. When Man was surprised by an announcement before a Dadaist festival he was presenting a movie, he decided to use his jokingly-called 'rayograph' process to serve as a basis for his short 1923 experimental film "Return to Reason (Le Retour a la Raison)."
The three-minute work consists of some of his artwork, some rayographs of nails, salt and pepper, a paper spiral and other visuals of horizontal lines, which are incorporated on a female torso turning in front of striped curtains. Critics describe the short film as the first to show poetry in motion and poetry in light, which makes Man's experimental piece bordering on spontaneity and chance, aimed at provoking his viewers' intellect and passions.
The three-minute work consists of some of his artwork, some rayographs of nails, salt and pepper, a paper spiral and other visuals of horizontal lines, which are incorporated on a female torso turning in front of striped curtains. Critics describe the short film as the first to show poetry in motion and poetry in light, which makes Man's experimental piece bordering on spontaneity and chance, aimed at provoking his viewers' intellect and passions.