Objects

Small, black and white drawing by Teodor Bok on brownish tissue paper. It depict only the index finger enclosed in a painted, uneven frame. Its anatomy – middle phalanx, distal phalanx and nail – is copied immaculately. However, we may be a bit disturbed by the fact that the joint between the phalanxes is wrapped tightly with a string, and by the iron nail that is stuck in the piercing on the right. Thus the anatomical mimicry and precision are not the main goal of the artist. The tight string paralysing the finger brings about questions on the freedom and the right to make one’s own decisions (even the wrong ones) and choices that go against the bidding standards and conventions which nail us to the social and national structures.

Renata Piątkowska