Art Theory Text with Traditional versus Configuration Art Composition Diagrams 1948

Curator: This fascinating piece by Stuart Davis is titled "Art Theory Text with Traditional versus Configuration Art Composition Diagrams." Editor: It feels like a manifesto, doesn't it? The quick, almost frantic handwriting juxtaposed against these schematic diagrams... it's like a burst of creative energy captured on paper. Curator: Absolutely. Davis is challenging the very foundations of artistic creation. He's questioning traditional notions of composition, laying bare the power structures within artistic conventions. Editor: And materially, this is so direct: pen on paper, diagrams of process. It emphasizes the labor of thinking, making these distinctions visible. Davis makes a distinction between traditional art's optical reality versus the non-rational reality of what he calls "C-Art," the latter having multiple centers. Curator: Indeed. He is laying out the sociopolitical implications of those choices in what he terms C-Art, which can be read from all sides. Editor: Examining these diagrams shows how he's attempting to re-conceive artistic production. I appreciate the raw exposure of it all. Curator: I agree. It prompts us to confront the rules we often unconsciously accept and consider alternative perspectives.