Dugald Stewart Walker
Geesetalk
circa 1920
Here a humorous animation is made through but black, beige and an evident understanding of the aesthetics of space. These geese are set in motion before our eyes by the simple tool of the register: the birds pit-pat from left to right across the page, creating a ceaseless parade of (what one imagines to be) waddling and raucous quacking. One could say that this print is like a still from a praxinoscope - one that, despite being parted from its original optical platform, still resonates with a rotating movement meant to instil life into an otherwise two-dimensional, stationary drawing.
Consider that the title of this piece (‘Geesetalk’) also animates the subjects: it seems to be a bit of a play on words, or on phonetics. Do geese really ‘talk’? Or do they more-so ‘communicate’ to one another through gestures and guttural noises, through a mysterious language of their own? Whatever the case, the viewers may find themselves thinking this idea over in their heads to no avail. It is a question of which came first: the chicken (or is it the goose?) or the egg? It is a circular argument that undoubtedly plays tricks on the mind, rather like a praxinoscope. Meanwhile, the battalion of six in front of one continues full-heartedly onwards. Their battle cries grow relentlessly louder in one’s mind, all because of the simple trick of pairing the words ‘geese’ and ‘talk’ together. With this illustration, one is meant to sense the tight marching and taunting of the geese; one is meant to feel their puffed-up, angry and haughty breasts; and while looking, one is meant to hear (and simultaneously agree) that geese are not exactly the most quiet of creatures.
