Aegean 1967

Curator: This is Ben Nicholson's "Aegean," held here at the Tate. It's a relatively small print. I find it immediately calming. Editor: It’s like a blueprint someone abandoned halfway through, or a diagram of invisible connections. I wonder about the etching process itself. Curator: Indeed! The layered lines suggest an intellectual mapping of space. The square almost feels like a building, while the curving lines evoke movement, journeys, or perhaps even ocean currents. Editor: It's very subtle but the texture looks like a light grain, could it be copper? How long would it have taken to etch through that? And what acid was used? Curator: It's a dance between order and freedom, constraint and fluidity. Nicholson uses geometric forms to define our world, while the more organic lines hint at the unseen forces shaping it. Editor: A fascinating interplay between precision and chance—and a reminder of the labor inherent in the etching process. You know, I'm starting to appreciate the feeling of serenity you mentioned earlier. Curator: It's an invitation to look beyond the surface, isn’t it? I'm drawn to how we project our own interpretations onto these forms. Editor: Absolutely. Materiality and meaning intertwined.