Untitled 

Curator: This whimsical etching by Bernhard Hasler presents an enigmatic, untitled scene in swirling blues, reds, and browns. Editor: My initial feeling is of entering a half-remembered dream or fairy tale – it feels ethereal but a bit fragmented. What do you make of this overall impression? Curator: Technically, it’s fascinating how Hasler utilizes the etching technique to create such a delicate and layered effect. The varied line weights and color washes give the print an incredible sense of depth. Editor: The imagery feels so laden. The musician seems to occupy center stage on his rug. But what is the relationship to the swirling images that circle him—other figures, architecture, and nature, even musical notations below. Could this swirling circle around him indicate the creative mind in full bloom? Or does it hint at art’s place at the center of an artist’s existential life, drawing on so many themes to feed creative possibility? Curator: The spatial relationships are deliberately ambiguous. Note, too, the lack of a definite vanishing point – the artist prioritizes creating a surface of visual incident over any strict representational logic. These motifs create balance within the overall pictorial space. Editor: Exactly! This is no traditional story but instead, I see echoes of familiar, but twisted tropes—perhaps hinting at the complexities of love? After all, is that an interpretation of the Italian on that sheet of music, "Do you want to know what love is?" Curator: It may be a comment on the nature of representation itself, or a reflection on narrative form, in general. The viewer is left to synthesize meaning from disconnected images and motifs. Editor: True, it resists any singular narrative, making it fertile ground for reflection on narrative tropes, fantasy and their sociohistorical roots. An interesting question. Curator: An important element when considering the success of an image’s form is precisely this sense of irresolution, which this etching captures, while at the same time containing enough visual substance to maintain our attention. Editor: For me, the unresolved aspects of the print, how they trigger my own critical thoughts regarding this medium’s and artist's practice are incredibly compelling. A very fertile space for exploration.