Telephone 1916

Morton Schamberg's 'Telephone' reduces a phone to stacked geometric forms painted in cool blues and greys. I can imagine him, brush in hand, simplifying the object into these essential shapes, each stroke a decision about what to include and what to leave out. It’s like Schamberg is talking to the Futurists, but he’s also doing his own thing. Those hard edges and flat colors? It's as if he's saying, "Let's distill this machine down to its bare bones and see what happens.” The shapes almost float against the blue, a kind of mechanical dreamscape. And that pale blue that surrounds the object makes it a powerful image. We can all learn from each other, and build on the ideas that came before. It’s like one big conversation that has been going on for centuries.