October. Landscape. Formula 1921

Curator: Looking at "October. Landscape. Formula" created in 1921 by Pavel Filonov, one is immediately struck by the fracturing of form. Editor: Yes, it’s utterly disorienting! A real kaleidoscope of shapes and colours, simultaneously intriguing and chaotic. I'm wondering what he’s trying to convey through such visual upheaval. Curator: Filonov's analytical realism attempted to depict the organic world in terms of its atomic components, he saw forms as arising from inner psychic energy and revolutionary change. The landscape transforms into something crystalline, reflecting inner experience. It invites contemplation. Editor: Contemplation, or confrontation? This painting screams a rejection of romanticised landscapes in favour of a raw, fractured reality. Filonov made this shortly after the Russian Revolution; surely, there is a reflection of the immense societal changes he was witnessing and potentially grappling with. I am sure this painting may not be so “calm”. Curator: That's insightful. These geometric forms possess spiritual implications: his goal of reflecting not just outer appearances, but a painting "made" as nature “makes” an organism through internal forces. Note how he interweaves organic and inorganic. Editor: It also begs a bigger discussion on the human place in society, I wonder what the symbols of revolution do and where their value exists. Is Filonov taking these icons apart to scrutinise them? Is he looking for answers in geometry? Curator: Precisely. There's a palpable sense of deconstruction and a search for meaning amidst chaos; he is creating and recording. The work embodies an ethos to find new languages by representing transformation from within and the value and meanings are still transforming themselves within us. Editor: Ultimately, the power of "October. Landscape. Formula" lies in its ambiguity. A visual challenge to find stability and perhaps something cathartic, as well as new perspective on ourselves. Curator: Absolutely; it embodies the continuous striving toward resolution inherent in existence itself.