Oh! 1996

Editor: Right, next up is Grazia Varisco's "Oh!" from 1996, fabricated in metal. It's composed of two large intersecting curved elements plus a smaller planar element on the floor. The starkness is really striking...almost severe. What's your take on this piece? Curator: It's a compelling study in industrial materials and geometric form. To truly engage with "Oh!," we must consider Varisco's careful attention to process, her choice of pre-fabricated metal elements, and how these materials were manipulated, likely through industrial welding and fabrication techniques, to construct this spatial composition. The work itself becomes a product, almost a critique, of late 20th-century industrialization. Don't you think the work's effect hinges upon our awareness of labor? Editor: That’s interesting! I hadn't thought about the labor aspect. How does its setting play into it? Curator: Precisely. Its stark presentation in a gallery forces us to question the value we ascribe to “art” versus industrial production, and perhaps the very notion of originality and authenticity when utilizing mass-produced materials. It prompts us to examine the intersection of minimalism and conceptual art and reflect upon the labor and resources involved in creating even the simplest geometric form. Editor: So, by presenting it in this context, Varisco asks us to reconsider how we define and consume art, highlighting its inherent connection to industrial processes. Curator: Precisely. Hopefully now you perceive beyond the form and toward production and materiality. Editor: I do. Thinking about it now, I'm understanding a new appreciation for not just the 'what' but the 'how' in artwork.