Ipsa dies aperit- conficit ipsa dies 1592

Curator: Look at this incredible print from 1592, “Ipsa dies aperit- conficit ipsa dies,” made by Jacob Hoefnagel. You can currently find it here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. He primarily worked with colored pencil here. Editor: Well, hello, old friend! What strikes me first is this strange, slightly unnerving tranquility, as if nature is putting on its most serene face before... what? Decay? Dinner? Curator: Interesting. I'm drawn to the interplay of the naturalistic observation and what feels like almost a manufactured composition. Look at the lemon— rendered with incredible detail—positioned right next to the artifice of those almost cartoonish striped flowers above. There is tension here about the material nature of the colored pencils in rendering versus reality itself. Editor: Those flowers *are* delightfully odd! Like candy-striped trumpets announcing the arrival of that absolutely monstrous slug above. Everything is vying for space, bursting from the frame, a microcosm on the verge of explosion... or maybe just lunch. Curator: Exactly. And notice how he positions labor. We see both the work that went into cultivating the fruit, versus the raw appetite of nature, indifferent to human work and toil. Think of the labor necessary versus a grub devouring all that humans attempt. It speaks volumes about production and labor, literally and figuratively, in nature and its impact on humans. Editor: So, beyond being a charming menagerie, there is commentary, absolutely. The meticulous artistry employed creates a sense of wonder, but the blunt depictions of predation—the juicy cherry versus the lurking spider— hint at something darker. The eternal grind, the unending work. Curator: Precisely! Hoefnagel seems to suggest we're all part of this circuit of consumption, no matter how hard we work, no matter what beauty we create. And isn't it fabulous how he accomplishes all this with what we would consider rudimentary medium? Editor: It is powerful and quite delightful when viewed that way, I’ll agree. A visual poem reminding us, with wit and a touch of the macabre, of nature's indifference to our human dramas. Thank you for helping to frame that a bit more acutely for me.