Oor 1972

Editor: So, this is Aat Verhoog’s “Oor,” created in 1972. It's a drawing or etching... I can see lines of ink. It feels almost like a strange dreamscape. What strikes you most about it? Curator: Ah, yes, "Oor"... The Dutch word for "ear". For me, it's a playground of the subconscious. Verhoog often delves into those quiet spaces between thought, doesn't he? That ear, hovering there… what does it hear? The relentless march of progress symbolized by the windmill? The rider, a stoic figure traversing a landscape ripe with implied narratives? The running figure could be fleeing, or chasing, perhaps herself! What secrets is it whispering into existence, or keeping locked away? Editor: I hadn't even considered the secrets part... It also looks as if Verhoog is playing with depth. Curator: Absolutely! The planes shift, defy logic. The textures created by the etching amplify this sense of unease, like the hushed rustling before a storm. Tell me, does that ear appear to belong or simply... float? Editor: Float, definitely. It is all quite dreamlike. I like how unsettling it all is. Curator: Unsettling *and* strangely familiar, wouldn't you say? Verhoog touches on universal anxieties and desires, masked in whimsical absurdity. A mirror reflecting our own fragmented interior landscapes, perhaps. It stays with you, doesn’t it? Editor: It does, it's making me think about how dreams echo into our waking lives. Thank you!