Heartbeats 1990

Curator: Welcome. Today, we’re observing Roman Cotosman’s print, "Heartbeats," from 1990. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by its austerity, its stillness. Four black monoliths against this stark white background… almost unsettling, like architectural voids. Heartbeats, huh? I’d have guessed… silences. Curator: Cotosman, working in a late-20th-century context, seems deeply engaged with the minimalist project. The use of repeated geometric forms reduces the image to its barest essentials, inviting contemplation on form itself. It's also an intriguing engagement with neo-expressionism and conceptual art in a print. Editor: True. The repetition anchors it, but those small jagged edges, like ripped paper—they’re fighting against the strict geometry. Are those imperfections meant to represent… breaks in the rhythm? Human error disrupting machine precision? My heart doesn’t beat in perfect squares! Curator: Perhaps. Considering Cotosman's background, his works explore themes of absence and presence through limited visual elements, focusing on the viewers experience. It prompts you to confront absence, and that stark simplicity becomes loaded with potential interpretations. Editor: Potential or imposition? This seems intent on evoking discomfort, like being trapped in an elevator with broken music. Maybe a minimalist elegy, something stark and brutal, a death knell. Are we sure it is a heartbeat, I feel I am facing four tombstones… but, interesting. Is the lack of title another part of its silence? Curator: Well, the title adds a crucial layer to understanding the intent behind its creation. This work participates in an aesthetic dialogue, the title forces you to give up your original idea about tombstones or broken machines to reconsider "Heartbeats". This might echo the art of the era by blurring the line between minimalism and personal expressionism. Editor: That it does, which gives even the austere viewer a moment of solace! To sum up, a seemingly basic but deeply evocative piece from Cotosman. Its rigid monochrome palette provides so much thought to our minds that might take days. Curator: Exactly, the simplicity makes for greater thought. An experience designed to challenge viewers about art’s potential as a social expression.