Numbers c. 1972 - 1983

Curator: This is Barry Flanagan’s print called "Numbers," held in the Tate Collection. What stands out to you? Editor: It feels almost like an alphabet primer, but for arithmetic. There’s a sense of order wrestling with a childlike, almost chaotic energy. Curator: Flanagan was interested in the process of making, and the way simple materials can create complex forms. He used etching, a traditional printmaking method, but his approach feels quite casual, even playful. Editor: The mirroring of the numbers in the right columns definitely disrupts that initial sense of order. Are they reflections, or some kind of symbolic doubling? Numbers themselves can represent so much more than simple counting. Curator: Perhaps it’s Flanagan highlighting the instability of systems, even numerical ones. The splatters disrupt the neat grid. Editor: True. The image evokes a sense of something foundational being playfully deconstructed. Curator: Exactly, Barry Flanagan encourages us to re-evaluate the structure of these fundamental forms. Editor: I hadn’t thought about numbers in that way before. Thanks for the insight.