Microscopische opname van een vlindervleugel, tachtig keer vergroot 1887 - 1888

Curator: Up next we have Marinus Pieter Filbri's "Microscopische opname van een vlindervleugel, tachtig keer vergroot," a photogram, meaning it’s a photographic image made without a camera. Editor: Striking! It evokes a sense of scientific exploration. The subject, a butterfly wing magnified eighty times, is abstracted within that distinct circular vignette. What a stark contrast with the geometric borders around it! Curator: Absolutely. There’s a potent symbolism embedded here. Butterflies, throughout cultures, often signify transformation, and the act of magnification unveils an unseen world, a deeper understanding. Consider this work, created between 1887 and 1888, just when new scientific breakthroughs shifted the zeitgeist. Editor: Precisely. The photogram's grayscale intensifies the abstract quality; we're encouraged to decode the shapes before understanding what we’re even viewing. It creates tension between legibility and pure visual form, and what appears quite gestural is achieved mechanically and precisely through scientific tools. Curator: The stark simplicity of the presentation adds to the gravitas, it elevates it from a mere scientific document to a potent symbol of understanding. We associate such stark representation of a butterfly's form with themes of mortality, resilience, the delicate balance between destruction and growth. What a culturally rich subject, and all before the dawn of digital imaging as we know it. Editor: I completely agree. Thinking of the surface as a support, I see a dialogue emerge between the soft shapes floating within and the rigorous geometry of its borders— a dance of soft and hard elements, drawing us closer to scrutinize the wing. This invites reflection on scientific exactitude as a filter over ethereal form. Curator: And I, on how the delicate beauty of a butterfly transforms under our probing gaze, reminding us that there’s always a deeper meaning to be revealed when we are willing to focus intently on the things we pass over everyday. Editor: That sense of intimate engagement, enabled by early photographic precision, is, at least to me, where the art of this object lies.