Ingeminate, November 1965

Eva Hesse, born in Hamburg, Germany in 1936, made “Ingeminate, November” using cord and papier-mâché. Hesse, a Jewish child, escaped Nazi Germany only to find herself in New York City dealing with the trauma and displacement that marked her early life. In "Ingeminate, November", the two forms which anchor the piece repeat. A key component of Hesse’s artistic practice was repetition. The forms may be simple but the effect is uncanny; these minimalist gestures take on an emotional depth, perhaps because they are doubled. Hesse said, “My art is…overcoming contradictions; I don’t know, but the contradictions are as ridiculous as possible." The forms point both upwards and downwards, refusing a fixed position. The cords which join the forms together pool at the base of the piece. They seem to echoe the forms above, whilst also acting as an anchor. This piece encapsulates Hesse’s emotional exploration of form, repetition and ultimately her own life.