Worksheet for Visual Automatic No.5, No.4 1965

Editor: This is Stephen Willats’ "Worksheet for Visual Automatic No.5, No.4," a mixed media work on paper. It feels like a schematic for some kind of system. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The means of production are laid bare here. Willats shows the process, the labor of mapping social systems. The 'worksheet' format challenges the hierarchy between finished artwork and preparatory material. Editor: So, the value isn't in a polished final product, but in the documented thought process itself? Curator: Precisely. Consider the materials: simple pen and paper. This accessibility mirrors Willats’ interest in democratizing art, moving it away from elite consumption. The piece becomes about the accessibility of ideas, not the preciousness of materials. Editor: That's interesting, it changes how I think about the artist's intention. Curator: Indeed. We learn to value the labor, the process, the social context embedded within the simplest of materials.