Warming Up 1943

Curator: Riva Helfond’s “Warming Up,” a print from 1943, immediately strikes me as a rather mechanical exercise. Editor: Yes, the overwhelming geometry definitely pushes one in that direction. The figures are almost lost amidst those gigantic propeller ellipses. There's something undeniably impersonal about their depiction. Curator: Consider the visual weight. The artist has carefully calibrated an intricate dance of shapes, interweaving mechanical components and the human form into a dense, interlocking composition. The palette is subdued, almost industrial. Editor: Exactly. And the symbolism is hard to ignore. These propellers evoke a time of war and conflict. But the title "Warming Up" gives me pause – like a call to something getting ready to come alive. What’s implied about American anxieties and its war machinery? Curator: It is intriguing that these stylized shapes represent not only planes, but also serve as an expressionistic commentary about people working, preparing. A study in structure over sentiment. What of the role and position of the individual human element amongst this machinery, I wonder? Editor: These figures – rendered so similarly they look like stand-ins– appear subjugated by machines. Yet that could also signify collective strength, no? A single body may get crushed by industry, but these figures acting in concert could bring forth significant transformations to reality. Curator: Your point on unity underscores how Helfond is interested in planes existing alongside humanity to move as one, which brings me to a better consideration of Helfond's exploration of both design and cultural context here. Editor: Indeed, so in examining Helfond’s print and allowing ourselves to reflect upon those times through the symbolic meanings in the image, one gains perspective on both the objective mechanical structures and psychological realities that came into play then.