Weather Vane c. 1939

Editor: This is Frank Budash's "Weather Vane," made around 1939, using mixed media like drawing, carving, and wood. What strikes me is the tension between the two-dimensional depiction and the apparent physicality of the wooden fish itself. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I observe first the tension created by the linear precision juxtaposed against the organic irregularity of the wooden form. Note how the artist employs line, not to mimic nature, but to flatten and abstract the inherent sculptural quality of the carving. The interplay of positive and negative space creates a dynamic visual rhythm, further emphasizing the constructed nature of the image. Editor: Constructed? I wouldn’t have thought about it that way, as the medium seems to represent an object in a seemingly traditional way, so there’s this interesting sense of material and representation blending with each other. It gives me a feeling of folk art, but maybe that’s the roughness of the wood itself. Curator: Consider the rough grain of the wood itself. Does it evoke a specific locale, or does its presence serve to draw attention to the essential characteristics of texture and form? In a formalist reading, this textural element complicates any easy categorization within the vernacular tradition. Observe too how the artist subverts any expectation of perspectival illusion. The fish remains resolutely flat. Editor: So it’s the emphasis on flatness, line, and material quality that challenges our assumptions? Curator: Precisely. The artist demands that we acknowledge the artwork as an object, constructed and consciously presented. It invites analysis of its component parts and their relationship, above and beyond any representational function. Editor: That really makes me think about the materials in a completely new way; it’s about what the artwork is *doing*, not what it's portraying. Curator: Yes, precisely. Understanding that shift in perception is one of formalism's key insights. Editor: Thank you! It's given me so much to consider.