“Guernica” in CG

Lena Grieseke created this 3D “exploration” of Picasso’s famed painting “Guernica.” In the description of the project, Grieseke writes that recreating the work in 3D “provides the unusual opportunity to view the painting from a unique perspective, revealing aspects that would normally stay hidden from the casual viewer.” While experimentation like this is worth applauding, I’d also argue that the 3D adds little to the original. The power of the painting derives largely from Picasso’s nightmarish Cubist-inflected composition, and attempting to ‘deconstruct’ the objects in realistic space diminishes the graphic impact of the original work. Picasso’s work is certainly not off-limits to animated interpretation, but I think such attempts are better served when there is original thought behind the artwork, as in Juan Pablo Etcheverry’s Minotauromaquia, instead of exercises in recreating his artwork literally.