Basics on Composition LX (Bozen) 1993

Curator: Well, look at this beauty. Helmut Federle's "Basics on Composition LX (Bozen)," from 1993. It's… strikingly simple, isn't it? Editor: It certainly is. Stark, almost. Two solid, yellowish squares floating against a field of deep brown... like a skewed gateway or perhaps some very minimal, geometric eyes staring back at the viewer. I feel an immediate sense of unease and rigid constraint. Curator: Unease? I see… perhaps I’m just lost in the buzz of the golden ratio. You know Federle and other artists, were really fascinated with geometry. He always talked about his attempt at balance, not only in his work, but in life! Trying to put structure on what we’ve always been, well, calling chaos, maybe. He did get this piece right. Editor: Interesting that you read "balance" there. The color palette, while muted, has a confrontational energy and speaks of stark contrasts. A tension-laden dichotomy of the subjective and the objective that recalls Adorno’s writing about the inherent dissonance of modernity! This reminds me so much of social imbalances. Curator: Oof, heavy! I think, with these rectangles, and this colour in the background... and I know that Bozen can also be the name of an Italian City - a sort of nostalgic place where a guy drinks aperol at 5 pm after an honest days work. Editor: So, the reference to Bozen serves as an anchor, locating this otherwise abstract composition in a specific social, geographical space, which automatically makes the composition political, I am right? It invites speculation on local and cultural history embedded within these minimalist forms. Curator: I think that would give him too much credit! No. Helmut didn't have that profound thought, in my opinion! Editor: Still, isn't this what is brilliant about his artwork? These two squares have created a space for our ideas, no matter whether they coincide. This could easily be integrated into our curriculum to illustrate the power of abstract expression in the 1990s, it holds social commentary at an interesting point of time. Curator: Okay, that makes sense. You always find ways to apply this stuff to society. Editor: Exactly. This is why I enjoy having these discussions, seeing art through a shared perspective. I will never stop. Curator: Good. Otherwise, you’ll just stay here on a stool.