Tongs c. 1936

Curator: Richard Schoene’s "Tongs," from around 1936, presents us with a meticulously rendered drawing using what appears to be graphite and perhaps colored pencil on a subtly toned paper. Editor: Whoa, it's so stark. Like a tool just floating there. The drawing is quite delicate. There's something ghostly and austere about it, yet, weirdly calming. Curator: It is interesting how a functional object is isolated like this. Considering Schoene's historical context, the interwar period, could this be a reflection on the industrialization and its impact on everyday life, a commentary of domesticity, perhaps even about labor practices of the time? Editor: Ooh, I see that, yeah! It feels kind of lonely too. Maybe even abandoned, divorced from its purpose. The composition with that big blank background certainly emphasizes that emptiness, a tool adrift, no longer creating or maintaining... kind of existential, don’t you think? Curator: Existential, indeed. And perhaps this loneliness speaks to the plight of the working class, disempowered in a rapidly changing economy? Tools, after all, are extensions of the human body, instruments of agency. By isolating it, Schoene perhaps highlights that lost agency. Editor: I didn't think I would ever be moved by tongs. And yet, here we are! There is almost something elegant, like this lowly instrument can transcend itself, just by this gaze that the artist puts to it. I suppose any object, with the correct attention, could be made sublime. Curator: That’s beautifully said. It speaks to how art allows us to reimagine the mundane and uncover hidden meanings in unexpected places, urging us to reflect on the systems and structures around it, as well as around ourselves. Editor: So, next time you see a pair of tongs, don’t just grab some ice. Consider the history, the artistry, the possibilities! Curator: Exactly. Thank you. Editor: Anytime!