Geometriske øvelser 1748 - 1831

Curator: Oh, this one makes me want to reach for my old geometry textbook and finally understand what my teacher was talking about. It's got a surprisingly playful vibe for a work focused on geometric shapes. Editor: Well, "Geometriske øvelser," or "Geometric Exercises," crafted with pencil, does offer more than just dry calculation. The artist, J.F. Clemens, working between 1748 and 1831, seems intent on exploring perspective, and its visual forms. Curator: Perspective, sure, but there's a whimsy here too. Those floating cubes…are they floating? Are they about to topple? It’s all sketched out in very precise, fine lines, but somehow feels unstable and dreamlike to me. Editor: That tension between the concrete geometry and your subjective read is key, I think. The materiality of the drawing adds another layer—the paper’s aging, the faint pencil marks… it speaks to a certain… provisionality. It isn’t fixed like an engineering blueprint but dynamic and emergent, and not necessarily abstract. Curator: I think so too! Like a game of Minecraft unfolding in somebody’s attic, you know? I almost want to reach in and tweak it slightly, nudging a line this way or that, but that's what really intrigues me about this seemingly austere subject. Editor: Precisely. Note how Clemens utilizes linear precision and how the interplay of lines creates depth, even spatial ambiguity, and ultimately engages viewers with an intimate understanding of spatial relationships as signs themselves. Curator: Right, these aren’t just sterile geometric shapes; it's all about form, and the relationship between them and how they affect our imagination. Like a playground in the sky, or perhaps a future house being conceived. Editor: Perhaps you’re correct. Ultimately, though, these explorations reflect fundamental aspects of human cognition, and also prompt one to consider the historical relationship of mathematics to art, and the artist's individual pursuit. Curator: A rather beautiful relationship if you ask me! So this piece gives order from chaos, while allowing a slight, beautiful bit of chaos to creep back in. Editor: Indeed. A glimpse into the artistic process—not just about finding fixed answers, but of pondering the question itself.