The Fourth 'Book of Schemes'. Album #2, the First Folder 1978

Editor: So, this is Valerii Lamakh's "The Fourth 'Book of Schemes'. Album #2, the First Folder" from 1978. The interlocking geometric shapes give the artwork a mesmerizing quality. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The geometric arrangement, radiating from the center outwards, immediately strikes me. Notice how the artist uses a hexagon as a foundational structure and nests increasingly smaller, similarly shaped hexagons within it. The choice to depict the hexagons as a series of interconnected triangles and star shapes, recalls the Star of David and other powerful symbolic patterns throughout history. What emotional responses do these patterns stir in you? Editor: I definitely feel a sense of harmony, almost like looking at a mandala. But the colors—the bright pink, blue, green, and yellow—feel a bit playful, not quite as serious as some traditional religious symbols. Curator: Exactly. This interplay between established, geometrical forms and modern, almost childlike color choices points towards a reconstruction of memory. How does that reconcile or challenge what we assume about those memories? The formal rigor feels balanced by playful innocence, transforming cultural knowledge into a tool to reconstruct and reframe tradition in a refreshing perspective. Do you see hints about this experimentation anywhere else in the work? Editor: Well, I suppose the title, calling it a "Book of Schemes," suggests a plan or a system, but one that's open to interpretation or even change. The lines aren't always perfectly straight and the colours sometimes bleed slightly. It makes me consider it as process-oriented and not just product-driven. Curator: Indeed! The hand-drawn imperfections imbue the work with a human element, preventing it from becoming a cold, mathematical exercise. Ultimately, it speaks to how we each reconstruct meaning through symbolic imagery filtered through the lens of our individual experiences and desires. Editor: I’ve never thought of it that way! I’ll be more attentive to this combination of imagery and emotion moving forward. Curator: It is exciting to see how symbols resonate differently across generations.