Kodak Gray Scale 

Editor: Looking at Ion Bitzan's "Kodak Gray Scale," a photographic print, I am struck by how deceptively simple it is. The geometric arrangement of colors and scales is calming, yet the snippets of text add a layer of complexity. How should we approach an interpretation of this piece? Curator: Formally, we can observe a tension between the objective quality of the color chart and the subjective nature of color perception that the snippets of text allude to. The grid structure, a visual language prevalent since early modernism, serves here as a framework for exploration. How do these colors, arranged serially and juxtaposed, play off of one another? Editor: The interplay feels almost mathematical, like a code waiting to be deciphered. But the snippets suggest emotions. The squares seem to vibrate slightly differently from row to row depending on what's written beside them. Do you find the text meaningfully informs the blocks of colour? Curator: Precisely! The interplay between the apparent coldness of geometric composition and the possible warmth of photographic colours with poetic text encourages further interpretation, such as reflecting on the mechanization of emotional perception or the automation of affect, that pushes Bitzan’s work past pure formalism. Editor: It’s fascinating to consider how Bitzan uses seemingly rigid forms to explore softer, more subjective ideas about observation and feeling. Thank you for opening up my understanding of the formal properties here. Curator: The pleasure was mine. Examining the work’s inherent qualities underscores its power to simultaneously provoke and invite nuanced contemplation.