The Skull in the Nest 1961

Curator: Staring at this print by Alexander Calder from 1961 called "The Skull in the Nest," I feel… slightly unsettled. Like looking at a half-remembered dream. Editor: The unsettling feeling, I think, comes from the inherent starkness of the linocut medium itself. Calder’s choice to use this technique amplifies the basic contrast between black and white – a very direct approach to representation, highlighting the manual labor and physicality in the process of creating this imagery of skull and nest. Curator: "Skull" might be a strong word. It looks more like a collection of empty circles nestled in scratchy, white lines. Does it look spooky or sweet, playful, even? The nest is beautifully chaotic and wild, surrounding this potential skull-shape! Editor: The playful feel comes, no doubt, from Calder's overall work with accessible materials; remember he’s best known for his wire sculptures and mobiles! Thinking about consumption, this isn’t rarefied oil on canvas – it's a print, reproducible, made to be more widely distributed. Curator: Definitely makes you consider the wider consumption and ownership of art! It’s got this unexpected dash of vibrant red, doesn’t it? This splash of red amidst the monochromatic landscape injects a primal, elemental sort of charge; it feels so full of life even within a composition playing with mortality. Editor: Exactly – that deliberate splash of color challenges the assumption of the cheap monochrome linocut, it asks you what materials are appropriate for this representation, where and how this work would hang or function! Curator: I guess seeing the whole picture of how it's crafted pulls my focus away from trying to name and define this shape of a skull within the work, which may or may not actually exist, but somehow embodies this playful dance between existence and essence... mortality and humor. Editor: Right, and maybe that freedom *to* doubt the subject reflects not just on our understanding of a linocut’s capabilities but also about the material conditions which determine what “art” can be consumed and why. Curator: Hmmm…so true! This feels way beyond face value now. Editor: Exactly! A much wider framework... food for thought, eh?