Ferntaster II 1920

Curator: So, we’re looking at "Ferntaster II," a graphic print realized around 1920 by Johannes Molzahn, a fascinating figure who moved between Expressionism and more abstract styles. It's a world of intersecting geometric shapes rendered in shades of brown, black, and sepia. Editor: Immediately I'm getting this sense of hidden machinery, almost like peeking into the mind of a very precise and somewhat melancholic robot. Curator: Yes, "Ferntaster," which translates roughly to “Fern feeler” or "Fern antenna" in English. So one might assume this geometric abstract print tries to probe a kind of dialogue with nature, not immediately visible, yet omnipresent, and translated with graphic art into Expressionism with an Art-Deco feel. It emerged in the wake of World War I... and the post-war desire for an art beyond easy nationalism is palpable. Editor: I see this kind of controlled chaos! Like all these little gears and…I see a beak! This beak cuts sharply through the middle of all that rigid geometry! Does anyone else see the bird? Curator: It is certainly hard to ignore! And while you note that some could consider this a machine-like and melancholic face of geometry and machinery, one can read the different shapes through many different lenses. Take a critical theory, or maybe a post-structural lens, one may suggest that Molzahn destabilizes any definitive interpretation of what these shapes and this artwork want us to see or comprehend, and want to tell us about Molzahn's socio-historical context and his art! Editor: See, that's interesting, but the second I give over to just pure intellect on this, it loses its zing for me. I almost feel a slight humor here—like Molzahn is winking through this intense puzzle. There's something almost…gleeful…in those swooping lines? A rebellion against total seriousness? Curator: Maybe. Or perhaps, post-war, what we are picking up on is a kind of absurdism, something prevalent in intellectual and art circles at that time, but in terms of medium we are reminded by Molzahn’s geometric abstraction that art in its medium can function like philosophy—investigating fundamental questions and concepts—like abstraction, like visual space—in an alternate mode. Editor: I can dig that. Looking at it from our perspectives, maybe "Ferntaster II" reminds us that even in what appears strictly rational and definable, space remains for intuitive surprise…and joy. Curator: Agreed. Art does what science can’t – at least, not yet.