Moy 1913

Editor: Muirhead Bone’s etching, "Moy," created in 1913, offers us a slice of maritime life. It's primarily rendered in delicate lines depicting ships and figures along the docks. What kind of stories do you think these visuals tell? Curator: The etching carries a fascinating symbolism of transit and labour. Notice the skeletal architecture of the ships, mirroring the human endeavors they facilitate, and how the skeletal rigging repeats itself across the masts to create visual echoes. Bone’s precise, yet light touch, captures the industry, but also its fragile relationship with the water and the sky. Are you getting a sense of any implied narratives, Editor? Editor: Definitely. It feels transient, like a moment caught between journeys. The repetition of shapes is intriguing...do you think this lends itself to the rhythm of dock work, perhaps, emphasizing movement? Curator: Precisely. Remember, too, that ships throughout time symbolize not only voyages, but ambition, the crossing of thresholds – psychologically and geographically. Look at how Bone highlights the activity near the large ship’s hull; those figures form the anchor, the focus, almost like a living part of this maritime beast. There's an animation suggested here, yes? Editor: Yes! It brings the ship alive and I am thinking, the vessel is more than a ship –it mirrors the people that keep the vessel alive, working on them as a form of symbiosis. Thanks for pointing this out. Curator: Consider also how water—depicted minimally, yet effectively—suggests a world both changeable and enduring. Bone is speaking to the transient moment within a lasting system, both environmental and economic. What have you learned? Editor: I am looking differently at how such line drawings tell vivid narratives through a deep interplay between industry, human action, and ever changing nature. Curator: As am I; Bone’s "Moy" makes us consider our place within these larger, cyclical stories.