Polyphonic Architecture 1930

Editor: This is Paul Klee's "Polyphonic Architecture" from 1930. It's a mixed-media piece that looks like it uses watercolors. I find the color blocking quite grounding, but then those linear architectural figures throw me off! What do you make of the materiality here? Curator: Klee's conscious decision to employ these accessible materials – watercolor, mixed media – disrupts conventional notions of high art. In the 1930s, valuing artisanal processes in a machine-dominated culture had clear social implications. Consider the "grid" as a foundation for so much architectural planning; what is Klee saying about those foundational processes? Editor: That makes sense. It does feel intentionally less refined. So, by using something like watercolor instead of oil, and embracing the grid, he’s emphasizing the labor and the construction itself? Curator: Precisely! And how those modes of production influence our understanding. The subtle color gradations, likely achieved through layering washes, also speak to a meticulousness – a deliberate crafting. How does the handmade nature affect your perception? Editor: I see what you mean. Knowing it was a deliberate, slow process, I read it more as a human interpretation of architectural space, rather than a cold, calculated design. Almost like folk art! Curator: Klee's process allows for a "humanization," but of geometric abstraction itself. Instead of a pristine utopia, it's architecture filtered through material limitations and the artist's hand. Does that then impact the final commodity being represented? Editor: Yes, absolutely. It complicates it by adding this element of craft and process. Thanks, I’ll never look at a grid the same way again. Curator: Nor will I. Reflecting on Klee’s deliberate use of materials opens our eyes to the value we place on labor, both visible and invisible, within art production.