Untitled 2005

Curator: Today we’re looking at an untitled work by Peter Fischli, part of the Tate collection. It's a small black and white image, showing a squirrel in a forest setting. Editor: The high contrast immediately gives it a sense of drama, even tension. The squirrel’s pose, its intense stare...it’s all quite striking. Curator: I agree. Consider Fischli's broader work—he often questions our relationship with the natural world, using humor and irony. Could this image be a commentary on our romanticized view of wildlife? Editor: Possibly, but the starkness also emphasizes the formal elements: the texture of the fur, the play of light and shadow. It’s a compelling study in monochrome. Curator: It’s interesting how Fischli leaves it untitled, inviting us to project our own narratives onto the image, filtered through our experiences with nature and its representation. Editor: It does invite introspection. I keep coming back to the composition; the strong vertical of the tree trunk, balanced by the horizontal plane. It's deceptively simple, really. Curator: Right. The ambiguity is precisely the point. It's a meditation on how we interpret and assign meaning to images, especially those that seem straightforward on the surface. Editor: A tiny image, full of questions about seeing. I appreciate how much it demands of the viewer.