Speed 1914

Curator: Woah, now that's a rush of energy. Looks like a painting by someone hopped up on espresso shots! Editor: Indeed. This tempera painting is titled "Speed" by Jules Schmalzigaug, created in 1914, at a time when artists were grappling with representing motion and the dynamism of modern life. Curator: Speed, you say? Makes sense. I'm getting race cars, maybe a rocket taking off. It’s chaotic, though, not serene like a bird gliding; more like a cat chasing a laser pointer. What do you think Jules was chasing, literally or figuratively? Editor: That's a thought-provoking question. Given that it was 1914, and considering Futurism’s focus on speed, technology and even the glorification of war, one might interpret this not merely as an aesthetic appreciation for movement, but also an allegorical reflection on progress and its discontents. What are the human costs in the name of progress and technology? What were the impacts on those left behind by speed or even, potentially, the human costs that feed the fires of constant change? Curator: I see your point, dark stuff. But there’s something freeing in this whirlwind, even if it is unsettling. These lines and color clashes—they’re like visual noise, the soundtrack of a city that never sleeps. Kinda liberating to chuck aside representation altogether and just go with pure feeling. And you said tempera? Imagine the care and labor...I am moved thinking about Jules so devoted to such chaos! Editor: Exactly! It speaks volumes to the Futurists who wanted to break away from tradition. Schmalzigaug himself tragically took his life just a few years after completing this work, potentially grappling with his identity as a queer artist in a society where homosexuality was still heavily stigmatized, as well as the psychological impacts from the advent of a modern, industrialized world that may have triggered emotional vulnerabilities in his artistic self. Curator: God, art’s a rollercoaster sometimes. From pure aesthetic zing to contemplating the artist's existential torment… "Speed", indeed. It picks you up, whirls you around and leaves you breathless – a bit like life, eh? Editor: Precisely. A century later, "Speed" invites us to reflect on how our societies’ fixation on speed and constant connectivity can impact our human emotions and shape our lives in profound, perhaps troubling, ways.