A travers sa peinture et sa pratique photographique, c'est une esthétique de la lumière qu'élabore dans ce recueil de textes, d'articles et d'extraits d'ouvrages, Moholy-Nagy, directeur du Bauhaus de Chicago en 1937, artiste polyvalent, pédagogue et historien de l'art.
“People believe that they should demand hand execution as an inseparable part of the genesis of a work of art. In fact, in comparison with the inventive mental process with the inventive mental process of the genesis, the question of execution is important only in so far as it must be mastered to the limits. The manner, however - whether personal or by assignment of labour, whether manual or mechanical - is irrelevant.” (26, Moholy-Nagy)
The book is a collection of reflections with a very modernist outlook by Moholy-Nagy on art (as of 1920s). It reminds me of a sci-fi book on art, as the Bauhaus teacher was positive of the use of machinery in art, prompting even some inventions, which may not be exactly reality today (like the poly-cinema), but remind of contemporary art installations. Though about a century has passed, I feel Moholy-Nagy still inspires a debate on what art exactly is - him defending that it’s the idea, not the execution that matters.