Frikfrak 1876 - 1890

Curator: Here we have "Frikfrak," a lithograph from the late 19th century. It’s such an odd little thing. The artist, Michelet, unfolds a whole peculiar narrative through sequential images. Editor: My first impression is... unsettling innocence. Like a series of children's book illustrations gone slightly askew. The muted colors, almost like faded wallpaper, add to that slightly melancholic feel. Curator: The visuals seem simple enough, but let’s dig into the story itself. We see what seems like a naive young man encountering an old woman who seems to... fatten people up in a cauldron, then turn them young again? All to rob them? Editor: So, classic fable territory then. But looking closer, there’s a definite power dynamic at play. Who gets transformed? Who gets to profit? I wonder, in its time, did this speak to the anxieties of class or perhaps even eugenics? Who gets "renewed" and at what cost? Curator: That is quite a dark question. Still, I keep circling back to the execution, to Michelet's hand in all this. There's a strange, almost innocent sweetness that counterpoints that darkness. The goose being placed head first into the kettle! Editor: Exactly! That's the cognitive dissonance that hooks you. I read this work through a critical lens, thinking about issues of exploitation, but I do see the appeal for an ordinary viewer in fin-de-siècle Europe who saw caricatures all over popular print. Curator: It makes you think, doesn't it? Even in a seemingly simple cautionary tale, there are all kinds of complex questions hiding. Almost as though we need a new reading every generation or so. Editor: Perhaps. Or maybe, Frikfrak endures because those fundamental imbalances haven't really disappeared. Curator: Well, it gives you goosebumps no matter your age, or cultural lens. It definitely stuck a chord with me! Editor: Indeed, it's that disturbing core that keeps it potent.