Scalar 1971

Editor: So, this is Dorothea Rockburne’s "Scalar" from 1971. It's an assemblage, combining metal and photography on toned paper. I'm really struck by the almost industrial, yet fragile feeling it gives off, like some rusted machine components photographed mid-transformation. What stands out to you when you look at it? Curator: Oh, transformation is a beautiful way to put it! It’s interesting to consider how Rockburne, at that time, was deeply immersed in mathematical set theory. You see how these metallic shapes hover and interact? To me, it's as if she's rendering complex relationships and scalar transformations—think of those industrial associations meeting, but almost shyly, hesitant like awkward dancers on a stage of tonal paper. There’s a conversation, a really quiet visual equation happening. Doesn’t it remind you of musical composition, maybe something minimalist? Editor: I can see that! It does feel like a score somehow, each piece carefully placed. So the variations in color—that's part of her mapping that visual equation, those set relations? Curator: Precisely. The patinas and tones, those 'natural tones,' create this fascinating depth. Light dances and rust blooms – It’s about the physical reality of the materials and that ephemeral light mixing so seamlessly, almost magically… You get the feeling that Rockburne is talking about permanence, but also about a constant state of evolving states of material, time, light, the cosmos. Almost, I dare say, a conversation with the Infinite. Don't you find a certain tension here, an industrial feel somehow striving for transcendence? Editor: I hadn’t quite put it together that way, but that makes so much sense. It’s not just an abstract piece, it’s like… philosophy captured in metal and light! Curator: Isn't that exciting? To have such a powerful sense of scale distilled in such humble elements! These shapes whispering universal languages to our ever curious eyes. Editor: Definitely given me a whole new appreciation. It's so much more than just geometry.