Motion Study of Hammer on Lead

Drawing inspiration from the 19th-century motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey, Abelardo Morell simulated photographic stop-motion action in a series of sculptures made for the camera. This photograph of pounded lead forming the shape of a hammer hitting a nail in three “moments” is not intended to fool the viewer into thinking it is a scientific document. Rather, it plays artfully on the conventions of early stop-motion imagery, rendering each successive impression of the hammer slightly less crisp as if to simulate a short exposure time or the blur of an object in motion. Morell also seems to equate the imprint in lead with the action of light on photographic film, alluding to theories of photography that posit an indexical, or physical, connection between photographic images and reality.