Bad band 1920

Paul Klee made *Bad Band* with watercolor and ink on paper. I can imagine Klee hunched over this small thing, trying to conjure a scene from just a few lines. The paint is washy, watery, stained and almost transparent, like a memory that might fade at any moment. A red spot hovers above the scene, some instruments are suggested, and skeletal figures seem to be performing. It's a kind of abstracted chaos, but then a lot of music is. The word ‘bad’ in the title is interesting. Did he mean bad as in morally corrupt, or just, you know, like, a bad band? Maybe Klee was thinking about the dissonance between intention and outcome. Either way, Klee probably knew that the best paintings and the best music often come out of struggle and a little discomfort. I’m sure he would have liked the music of John Cage! All artists are in conversation with each other, across time. And they are all listening for something unexpected and new, like this image.