Prometheus in chains 1905

Curator: Gosh, this piece feels immediately weighty. A certain claustrophobia radiates from it, don't you think? Editor: It does indeed. This is Frantisek Kupka's pen and ink drawing, "Prometheus in Chains," created in 1905. A rather literal depiction of the classical myth. Curator: Literal, yes, but something in the stiffness, the grey wash, makes me think of the kind of dread I read in Kafka. It is as if Prometheus' torment is less about physical pain, and more of some…bureaucratic nightmare. Editor: Absolutely, the formal constraints enhance that oppressive feeling. Consider the continuous, wave-like forms that dominate the middle ground, echoed even in the flowing hair of the figures. What visual echoes do you find? Curator: They could represent emotional turmoil? Or perhaps even be echoing his creative frustration, bound to repeat the same myth, re-interpret it... much as we all feel from time to time! There's this other weirdly ornamental bit at the very bottom of farmers or slaves toiling beneath a sort of decorative Greek key motif—which is juxtaposed so oddly. It reads a lot like that terrible “arete” poster from ancient Greek vase you saw back in your school library. Editor: That decorative tier certainly speaks to the nature of civilization and its cost. The small figures dragging a plough behind the suffering demigod bring to my mind a stark and ancient social order. This, together with all formal, linear echoes makes this image truly claustrophobic, it suggests we're doomed to repeat its patterns. Curator: That kind of repetitive labor implies eternal servitude… the gift of fire coming at what price? I would say eternal agony as we are seeing... this is much better. You gave me more ideas. Editor: That is the point I guess! Symbols are very alive if they do talk about ourselves in unexpected ways.