Kallard, T. Laser Art & Optical Transforms by T. Kallard.

Optosonic Press, 1979. [With an introduction by Rosemary Jackson, Director, Museum of Holography, New York. Covers holograms & laser light imagery, including light shows, with technical explanations. Numerous illustrations, 170 pages.] Wraps [only edition], bump at top of spine, otherwise very good.  Summary:

Laser Art & Optical Transforms (published in 1979 by Optosonic Press) is a unique 170-page volume written and compiled by Thomas Kallard (with an introduction by Rosemary Jackson, Director of the Museum of Holography in New York). Functioning as both an instructional text and an art anthology, this large-format paperback acts as a definitive late-1970s guide to the intersection of laser technology and creative visual expression, documenting a collection of optical sketches and structural experiments where laser light serves simultaneously as the subject and the artistic medium.

Core Themes and Content

• An Historical Perspective on Tech-Art: The opening sections of the book provide an essential historical baseline tracing how lasers transitioned from rigid laboratory instruments into active tools for contemporary visual artists. Kallard charts the evolution of early light art movements and details how the unique properties of coherent light—purity of color, intense focus, and perfect parallelism—offered a completely fresh, highly energetic palette for spatial illustration.

• The Mechanics of Light Imagery: A fundamental portion of the book breaks down the technical hardware and physics required to manipulate light beams. Kallard introduces the operations of low-power helium-neon gas lasers, detailing how basic optical components—such as mirrors, lenses, beam splitters, and spatial filters—can be arranged on an optical bench to safely project complex geometries, line drawings, and fluid light architectures onto translucent screens.

• Laser Theater and Light Shows: The monograph devotes significant coverage to the spectacle of "laser theater" and multimedia environmental performances. Kallard explores the creative possibilities of scanning systems and acoustic modulators, demonstrating how light could be synchronized with electronic music to create kinetic, highly animated light shows that transformed dark performance halls into immersive three-dimensional spatial environments.

• Holography and Optical Transforms: Visually and theoretically, the book examines the complex mathematics of light diffraction and holographic recording. By analyzing optical transforms (the patterns created when laser light passes through specialized apertures, diffraction gratings, or interference masks), the text illustrates the fundamental principles of wavefront reconstruction, demonstrating how wave interference patterns create structural depth and optical illusions.

By combining scientific explanations of optics with dozens of striking black-and-white photographs of abstract laser configurations, Laser Art & Optical Transforms stands as a vital time capsule of late-20th-century media art, demonstrating how the precise control of electronic light can turn a rigid scientific tool into an elastic instrument for human imagination.