Blauer kern 1969

Editor: Here we have Max Bill’s "Blauer kern" from 1969. It looks like some sort of geometric composition, very stark, very clean...almost like a textile design. I’m struck by how precise it feels, but also cold. What should we make of it? Curator: I see a direct link to industrial design principles. The use of clean lines and limited colors echoes the rise of mass production and the Bauhaus' influence on functional aesthetics. Consider the materials used – likely commercial paints, precisely applied. Editor: So you are suggesting it’s less about high art, more about everyday objects? Curator: Precisely. The focus isn't on artistic expression in a traditional sense, but on exploring geometric forms within a manufactured context. What materials could allow for such precision, for such flatness? This is what guides the artwork's interpretation. How could an artist get these perfect colors? Editor: Maybe he embraced new synthetic paints and printing technologies? It reminds me of printed textiles from the same era. Curator: Exactly! Bill is actively blurring the lines between artistic creation and industrial production, even inviting that mass replication, and potentially questioning the aura of the original artwork by allowing these geometric designs to permeate society via prints and other types of reproducible means. What do you make of the flat colours? Editor: I think I initially read them as cold or austere. However, they have enabled the precise execution you mention. Perhaps that precision, enabled by manufacturing, can allow these new materials to be used by anyone? Curator: And isn’t that the point? The art isn't in some mystical expression but in the accessibility of its production through industrial techniques and consumer goods.