Klänge Pl.24 1913

Editor: This is Wassily Kandinsky’s "Klänge Pl.24" from 1913, created using woodcut print in ink. The sharp contrast between the black ink and the bare paper creates a strong, almost aggressive visual. What can you tell me about the means and making of this particular abstract print? Curator: Well, let's think about the process. A woodcut is inherently about labor, about the artist physically carving away at the block, isn’t it? Each gouge removes material, defining form not through addition but subtraction. The black isn’t just ink, it’s the absence of what’s been taken away, wouldn’t you agree? How might the starkness of the medium and the printing process itself influence how we see the geometric, expressive elements within? Editor: So the choice of woodcut, a somewhat laborious and traditionally ‘lower’ art form than, say, painting, is itself a statement? Perhaps challenging conventional ideas of artistic skill and what's considered 'high art?' Curator: Precisely. It makes us consider the role of artistic labor. Kandinsky wasn't simply creating an image; he was engaging with a specific mode of production, one tied to craft and potentially wider distribution through prints. Did Kandinsky use commercially-sourced wood blocks, or create them himself, from foraged wood? The point is that the final “image” as an artistic output, has embedded within it, both its making and also the prevailing capitalist conditions. What do you make of the interplay between the artistic intent and the limitations or affordances offered by the printmaking process? Editor: That's a new way to appreciate it. Seeing how the artist uses those constraints – the starkness, the necessary simplification – is key to its message and also helps me grasp what the artist tried to achieve. Thanks for the fresh insights! Curator: Likewise. Thinking about art through its production opens a wealth of possibilities for understanding.