Soviet American Array VI 1988

Curator: Right, let's spend a moment with Robert Rauschenberg's "Soviet American Array VI," created in 1988. It's currently part of the collection at the National Gallery of Art. Editor: My first impression is almost chaotic, yet strangely harmonious. Like looking at the world through a fractured, beautiful lens. Curator: I love that, it resonates! Rauschenberg, in this mixed-media collage, blends printmaking, photography, and painting to create this kind of visual dialogue between, obviously, Soviet and American imagery. Think about the social context, the Cold War era, this array feels almost like a dream of reconciliation through material juxtaposition. Editor: Absolutely. He is collaging not just images but also ideologies. It’s fascinating how he utilizes the materials themselves— the rough edges, the layering, the exposed elements, scream the process. Are we meant to reflect on the labor of printing, on the socio-economic process embedded within the artistic materials themselves? The mass production quality of it… very Pop. Curator: Yes, and in some ways Dada-esque too. Rauschenberg pulls those ready-made images—photographs, prints—he’s saying that art isn't precious but is built from pieces of daily reality. What I sense beyond the cultural critique is something almost hopeful; even with all the apparent fragmentation there is something dream-like connecting this material chaos together. Editor: Yes, like all these scraps coming together create meaning, maybe it hints that reconciliation happens best on the ground. See, the very making of art here mirrors the aspirations of harmony in global culture that Rauschenberg hints toward, especially when it came to deconstructing boundaries between craft, technique, and the ‘finished product’. The art is *in* its making and presentation here. Curator: It also asks that each person brings their own narrative to complete the conversation he started. And Rauschenberg provides raw and unedited access to begin making sense of our place in the world! Editor: Exactly. Ultimately, examining “Soviet American Array VI" offers not just an aesthetic experience, but also pushes us to rethink the nature of creativity as social praxis. Curator: And maybe see hope for a new global consciousness... One picture at a time.