Formulation: Articulation, Folio II, Folder 02
Color screen print on paper
15 x 40 inches
1972
Originally a single print pulled from a woodblock, which could be looked at from any direction. It is now printed with the same image turned in its four different positions, alternatingly horizontal and vertical. The design on the printblock was so formulated that, by turning it, the respective center of action would wander in our perception and our reading would thus indicate various creatures and/or, simultaneously, various functions. At the left we can easily recognize a fish with open mouth, swimming to the right and gulping water. Next, the center of action shifts upward and we can detect the bill and large eye of a bird ; downward, we see two wings and the tail of the bird, perching close to a tree trunk. Third we recognize an amphibian emerging from the water. And finally, we can see a man with a face in profile, with a large eye and low broad mouth ; on top is a small cap. He appears to be raising one arm supported by the other and touching his forehead in meditation.
Statement of content reproduced from Josef Albers’s Formulation: Articulation.
Other works by this artist