Finger Gloves 1972

Editor: This is Rebecca Horn’s "Finger Gloves" from 1972. It looks like a sculptural installation, though I know she’s often associated with performance art. The stark vertical lines against the white wall create an unsettling tension for me. How do you interpret this work through its formal properties? Curator: Observe the piece’s use of line and form. The repetitive, almost regimented, arrangement of the black lines evokes a sense of minimalism. Note how the line is used, extending from a confined shape, but without fully resolving. Where does your eye go, and what structural relationships do you see? Editor: My eye is drawn down each individual strand. It almost feels like the form is investigating gravity and verticality. Is the work playing with the traditions of sculpture by deconstructing the human form, stretching it to emphasize linear extension, rather than volume? Curator: Precisely. The stark contrast of the black lines against the white ground also enhances the linear quality. What semiotic reading might you make from this use of negative space? Editor: The space becomes just as important as the solid form, framing it and almost giving it permission to exist. The lines, if I focus on the texture and color, do evoke something organic, or perhaps even vaguely threatening, which opposes the impersonality I expect of pure formalism. Curator: Intriguing. These gloves certainly stimulate an aesthetic experience based on basic art elements that speak volumes about line, form and space! Editor: I agree! Thinking about the composition rather than symbolic meaning offers fresh perspectives.