Untitled c. 1963

Curator: George Bunker's "Untitled" drawing, created around 1963, throws us into the world of Abstract Expressionism through the immediacy of ink on paper. What's your first take on this flurry of lines? Editor: Well, initially, I'm struck by the sheer physicality of the marks. The paper is clearly a surface for experimentation, almost a battleground of line and gesture made via pretty common and available material. I imagine the sounds the nib must have made scratching on the surface! Curator: That's beautiful, because, I feel it too. The abstraction is almost secondary to the pure release, that unburdening, as though each stroke captures a thought flickering into existence... What if we tried to reverse engineer that, like, imagine we're Bunker channeling the cosmos through his pen? Editor: (chuckles) "Channeling the cosmos," perhaps, or maybe channeling the raw materials available. A pen, ink, paper—tools of everyday writing, repurposed for...not writing. I'm fascinated by the democracy of materials. There's no preciousness here, just a direct connection to the hand and eye that is often missed in the discussion of capital "A" Art. The artist seems willing to abandon finish. Curator: Abandon, yes. It's as if finish equals death, a kind of art world rigor mortis. But that choice, to keep it raw, keeps it alive! See how some of those lines suggest forms, like a figure crouching or reaching? It's there but never solidified; it keeps flowing. Editor: I'm also thinking about the paper itself, and its scale and accessibility. A work on this type of medium democratizes art creation: there's minimal material cost to participate in the process. Its relative lack of environmental impact and cost compared to some others could mean something... Curator: Hmm, and I wonder what Bunker wanted to discard? The limits of representation itself perhaps? The idea that ink *has* to form words, paper *has* to hold meaning in a linear, legible fashion… He just…scratches it out. Editor: I think, when looking at Bunker, what resonates most for me is his emphasis on process and demystification in service of an image. In terms of medium, he shows us, we can all do that and at relatively little material consequence. Curator: True, you remind me that artistic freedom doesn’t need extravagance! It’s lovely how he can hint at forms in flux using what’s around. I think I leave here feeling invited into the workshop myself. Editor: Right, to join him, without gatekeeping and without expensive media. Art making can be a practical matter!