For more than a decade, each new Polaroid product prompted Samaras to embark on a fresh suite of experiments. Panorama belongs to a series he began in 1982. For each image the artist made several eight-by-ten-inch Polaroids of a single figure. He then cut each print into strips of equal width and reassembled them to create an elongated hybrid image. This simple technique stretches the figure as a fun-house mirror would, yielding the quality of theatrical fantasy that permeates all of Samaras's work.
LS: I think even at a young age I became aware that two kinds of fame were available: One is the kind you get from building this great church; the other is the kind you get from burning it down.