Suburb (Vorstadt) 1915 - 1916

Editor: This is "Suburb (Vorstadt)" by George Grosz, made between 1915 and 1916 using ink in the Expressionist style. The sketch feels very raw and almost unsettling to me. What compositional elements strike you most prominently? Curator: Notice how Grosz manipulates perspective and scale. The buildings are not presented in a naturalistic or harmonious composition, they appear chaotic, skewed. Consider the materiality of the ink itself - thin and wiry, lending a sense of nervousness, like an exposed nerve. Editor: Yes, the lines definitely add to that feeling! Is there something to be read from these lines as shapes themselves? Curator: Absolutely. Semiotically, lines possess intrinsic qualities; a jagged line is often interpreted as aggressive or unsettling, as they destabilize any easy assumptions of visual pleasure. The convergence of the lines draws your eyes upwards and creates this vertiginous feeling, no? The absence of a traditional focal point further enhances this sense of disorientation. Editor: I do notice that, it seems my eyes are constantly roaming to make sense of it. The faces looking out from the buildings give me the chills. How do we read that within Grosz's overall structure of the piece? Curator: Ask yourself: how are the structural elements contributing to this affective response? Do these grotesque caricatures invite you in, or repulse you? In semiotic terms, each of these forms is functioning as a signifier of modernity, the grotesque figures amplify it by exposing it to its uncanny form. Editor: I see. The buildings, streets and faces aren't simply things but components with intentional significance, reflecting modernity’s tensions. I didn't think about the intentional discomfort before. Curator: Precisely! Approaching artworks this way reveals new avenues for thought and opens ways of reflecting, it's about seeing how form generates new concepts.