Sketch 1917

Curator: We're looking at a pencil sketch by Naum Gabo, simply titled "Sketch," currently residing in the Tate. Editor: The first thing that strikes me is the sheer lightness of it. The lines are so tentative, so exploratory, like he's feeling his way through an idea. Curator: Absolutely. Gabo's work, even in this embryonic state, speaks to a fascination with geometric forms, a utopian vision almost. There's a purity in these shapes, a suggestion of higher order. Editor: I'm curious about the paper itself. Its texture and age suggest the artist had a specific relationship to his materials, and that the medium was chosen to further the concept behind the sketch. Curator: And perhaps its very ordinariness allows us to focus on the underlying ideas, the Platonic ideals he was trying to express through constructivism. Editor: A great reminder of how the materials of artmaking shape meaning. Curator: Indeed, and how symbols may convey the social context from which art emerges.