Ring Bit c. 1936

This rendering of a ‘Ring Bit’ is by Harry Mann Waddell, and it kind of floats off the page. I like to imagine the artist, Waddell, bending over the paper, squinting, trying to capture all the minute detail in the object. The metal of the ring bit is rendered with such care and precision, you can almost feel the coolness and hardness of it. There's a hypnotic quality to the concentric circles and the radiating floral motif; they remind me a little of Bridget Riley's op art. I’m drawn to the way Waddell balances the industrial quality of the bit with the delicate, almost decorative details, creating a strangely compelling tension. It makes me think about all the technical drawing I had to do as a student – all those attempts to accurately represent the world that end up being something else, something far more strange and interesting.