Untitled 1965

Curator: Before us is an untitled ink and pencil drawing on paper by Eva Hesse, created in 1965. Editor: Immediately, the geometric forms suggest to me the possibility of machines, albeit somewhat broken or disassembled, floating against a white void. I notice recurring shapes – cylinders and circular forms particularly – hinting at systems and mechanical construction. Curator: Hesse’s process here seems to be one of intuitive making; using found materials – her paper, ink, and pencil – in almost a factory-like assembly. It is intriguing how these elements come together to produce a type of organized chaos. Consider also the time: 1965. Think of industrial growth during that era, mass manufacturing of various parts, all that new construction... Editor: The shapes certainly do evoke an era defined by rapid industrial progress. There’s an insistent, perhaps slightly ominous, symbolic order underlying the sketch. The arrow form pointing downwards, perhaps symbolizing decline or descent, paired with these bizarre hybrid machines creates a visual language hinting at deeper, less optimistic themes related to technology. I cannot help but think of alchemical illustrations. Curator: Do you mean as signifiers of transmutation? Or possibly Hesse transforming, through labor, base materials, into something of worth? It almost feels like a preparatory stage for some grand experiment, like what one might find in an engineer’s or inventor’s notebook. There is clear intellectual labor happening here, captured via her manual craft. Editor: Precisely! The image suggests this transmutation, both material and psychological. The symbols embedded – intentionally or not – seem to operate on multiple layers. And to push the engineer notebook, it suggests an investigation of cultural anxieties related to industrial growth. These hybrid forms speak to hopes and possible destructive forces. Curator: So, you see the sketch as evidence, on the page, of a societal preoccupation rendered through Hesse’s hands and studio space. Not as art removed from life, but totally ingrained? Editor: Absolutely. The artist here seems very attuned to the visual languages being built around her. I am impressed with her ability to articulate abstract anxieties around industrialization through simple symbolic imagery and mechanical forms. It still communicates powerfully, decades later. Curator: A powerful convergence of media and mark-making into artifacts that communicate more than intended perhaps.