La Querelle tout en elle.. 1936

Curator: The collision of images, textures and text is immediately striking, wouldn't you agree? This piece titled "La Querelle tout en elle.." from 1936 by Georges Hugnet employs mixed media collage. It feels unsettling, the juxtaposition of anatomical imagery with those somewhat archaic fonts… How do you approach a piece like this? Editor: It's definitely provocative. I'm curious about how the artist constructed this collage. What's your interpretation of these fragmented forms? Curator: I focus on the labour involved. Hugnet is manipulating existing materials, pulling them from their original context in mass media – print advertising or discarded magazines perhaps. Consider the social implications here. By repurposing these mass-produced items, Hugnet critiques a culture steeped in commodity fetishism. Does the visible hand of the artist in the torn edges and the re-contextualization speak to a breakdown of traditional modes of production for you? Editor: That’s interesting. I see how the act of cutting and pasting is itself a statement. It removes the preciousness we often associate with art and highlights the materials' previous lives as ordinary, commercial objects. Curator: Precisely! And how does that process itself, that material transformation, comment on the subject matter suggested by the imagery? The female form, disembodied and presented alongside jarring text… Editor: Well, it feels like the materials themselves are used to deconstruct the female body and advertising techniques that surround it. Curator: It makes one think about the consumption and objectification that were so rapidly being advanced in this era. What I find interesting is that something new is crafted, by means of reclaiming what already existed and subverting established meanings of those same resources. Editor: Right! It’s about turning consumption back on itself to critique its own processes. That's something I'll definitely keep in mind for future encounters.