Delta 1939

Curator: Looking at Josef Albers' piece, "Delta," currently housed at the Tate, I'm immediately struck by its stark simplicity. It's so minimal, almost a whisper. Editor: A whisper trying to escape the cloud hovering above it! It feels like an anxious thought, doesn't it? That looping line seems trapped, searching for a way out from under that mass. Curator: It's interesting you say that. The lithographic process Albers employed allowed for a highly controlled distribution of ink; the linear element is very precise. The "cloud", on the other hand, is clearly different. Editor: It's like two separate processes battling it out on the page. The mechanical versus the accidental, the freedom in each. And in this piece I feel the emotional impact lies somewhere in that tension. Curator: Precisely. Considering Albers' background at the Bauhaus, experimenting with industrial modes of production, it's compelling to see this dance between the planned and the spontaneous, the precision and the accident. Editor: Well, whatever the intention, that looping line makes my stomach do a little loop-de-loop too. Curator: Ultimately, it's the combination of materials and processes that enables these diverse readings. Editor: Right, and reminds us, I guess, that art can be both intentional and utterly personal at the same time.