In The Sea 1883

Curator: Böcklin's “In the Sea,” crafted in 1883 using oil on canvas, certainly presents an unusual spectacle. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: There's something deeply unsettling about the composition, especially in the textures. The fleshy tones and muted greens juxtaposed against the harsh materiality of the harp create a friction. What kind of labor and process yields such strange imagery? Curator: Indeed. Böcklin masterfully balances several opposing pictorial elements. The curvaceous figures of the mythological sea creatures, for example, contrasted with the rigidity of the musical instrument establishes a push and pull. And consider the application of paint, so thick in some areas, almost glazed in others. Editor: It brings up questions of class and labor doesn’t it? What materials were available and at what cost? Whose hands ground the pigment, wove the canvas? This scene isn't just fantasy; it's also rooted in the material conditions of its production. Curator: I agree, to an extent. We can observe this conflict between the natural and the artificial, echoed in the facial expressions, ranging from fear to… resignation? And what of the positioning of figures, almost stage-like in its arrangement? Böcklin intentionally constructs a world of opposing elements to provoke an uncanny valley effect, would you say? Editor: Absolutely. The uncanny arises, in part, from our discomfort with the constructed nature of this “reality.” We should consider what impact the ready availability and industrial preparation of materials had on the artist's hand—and eye, for that matter. The symbolic weight surely shifts under those conditions. Curator: Fascinating perspective. Viewing the artwork as a reflection of the material conditions underlying its making—that offers an innovative insight, almost challenging our understanding of symbolism. Editor: Exactly, by considering the process we see how fantasy is always tethered to tangible realities. It’s a reminder that even otherworldly creations are constructed from something as grounded as pigments and canvas.