Before the Event 1963

Curator: Harold Cohen's large-scale painting, "Before the Event," held in the Tate Collections, strikes me as a vibrant tableau of raw, elemental forms. What's your immediate take? Editor: A bit chaotic, honestly, but in a playful, inquisitive way. Like a child’s building blocks scattered across a giant canvas, bursting with the joy of creation. Curator: Its materiality speaks volumes. Cohen's process involved using a custom-built drawing machine called AARON, blurring the lines between human and machine labor. How does this affect your perception? Editor: Well, knowing that a machine had a hand in this shifts things. It makes me wonder about control versus chance, the dance between artist and tool—a real meta-commentary, maybe? Curator: Precisely. Cohen's work challenges our assumptions about artistic intention and production. It's fascinating to consider how technology shapes the very act of creation. Editor: Absolutely. It’s definitely got me pondering the role of technology in art. Thanks for the insight! Curator: My pleasure. It’s remarkable how Cohen's work provokes questions about the nature of art itself.