Time for Bed 

Editor: Here we have Eric Fischl's painting "Time for Bed," oil on canvas, in a style that hints at modernism. It definitely feels unsettling. There is almost a hyper-awareness of the figures and their poses in a staged setting. What stands out to you about this piece? Curator: Well, let's think about the materials here. Oil paint allowed Fischl to create these thick, almost fleshy textures, particularly noticeable on the figures' skin. Consider too, what is being represented: figures in what is arguably domestic disarray, emphasizing the materiality of the everyday - the transient costumes and formal dress - and the psychological weight of modern life on display and its discontents. What do you make of the Superman costume, or the garish yellow suit for that matter? Editor: I noticed that! The bright colors against the darker hues definitely pull focus. Perhaps it speaks to a tension between fantasy and reality, almost manufactured desires… Curator: Exactly! And that manufactured quality extends beyond just the color. Look at the scene as a whole. The artist uses materials like oil to represent, or even simulate, a certain mode of living that requires our inquiry into what is gained, maintained, and/or sacrificed. How do we understand this in connection with the labour required to keep up those manufactured realities? Editor: So it’s less about what they *are*, but rather about what they’re made of and how that production reflects larger societal structures? The cost, material and otherwise? Curator: Precisely. Even the title, “Time for Bed,” presents a manufactured, even infantilized, end-goal for a day’s labor within capitalism. This reading is what allows us to start asking critical questions about societal expectation that art can afford. Editor: That makes a lot of sense. Thinking about the materials and what they represent gives a much more critical insight. Thanks! Curator: Of course. Now you’re primed to really consider what other works do as well.