20220429 200719 

Curator: The artist Bela Czobel brings us this piece. Its title, seemingly a timestamp, is "20220429 200719." A charcoal drawing, it veers into abstraction, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely. It has a chaotic, unsettled feel. The smudged charcoal creates a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere, but also a sense of urgency, like the artist was capturing something fleeting. Curator: Expressionism comes to mind as well, especially if we consider Czobel's history. We see an individual wrestling with subjective realities, distorted yet recognizable forms struggling to emerge from a dark background. I wonder, what was going on when Czobel made this piece? Editor: It feels like it's pushing against the expected norms, particularly within visual art institutions, or a personal rejection of expectations for representation. Curator: It really shows a lack of restraint in its marks. Given the timestamp in the title, it brings up an interesting element to how digital and mechanical timestamps affect art production in contrast to historical notions of "genius" and unique individual expression through art making. I wonder if Czobel consciously leaned into that. Editor: That could be true. There are a lot of questions about authenticity here. Does its digital fingerprint make it somehow less, or more, authentic? There's something powerful about capturing a moment with such immediacy in an era of hyper-production. Curator: What would this work communicate if viewed within a collection of Czobel's broader work? Is there perhaps a recurring theme or message that Czobel wants to put across that you see amplified here, with its timestamped, ephemeral look? Editor: Absolutely, there is a real sense of immediacy. As an abstract piece that seems like a timestamp, this brings up interesting comparisons between digital representation of time, mechanical capture, art, the ephemeral, and perhaps, its impact. What will survive the digital turn and become a relic, an important artwork? Curator: I hadn’t considered it that way, that question of survivability... it certainly highlights the tension of art history needing an understanding of the present to inform the study of art, that's so vital to our current moment. Editor: Agreed. Thinking about its visual impact with considerations for expressionism and abstraction in art is such an essential view of art in a social context, and it makes me reflect more. Thanks.