Untitled (Cake on chair in front of house) c. 1920s

This anonymous photograph captures a cake on a chair in front of a house and, well, it’s weirdly compelling. The palette is, of course, limited to the grays and blacks of its photographic medium, which adds to its starkness. It reminds me that artmaking is always a process of selection and reduction. Look at the textures here – the rough-hewn wood of the house, the grassy yard, and then, bam, this elaborate, almost defiant cake. It’s like a still life dropped into a documentary scene. The cake itself, perched precariously, becomes this symbol of celebration, or maybe of something bittersweet. I keep coming back to the window, though. The curtain is askew and partially obscures the scene inside. The window becomes a metaphor for how we frame our world, what we choose to reveal and what we keep hidden. It makes me think of Hannah Höch and the Dadaists, who loved to play with collage and juxtaposition to question reality. Art is always a conversation, isn’t it? And this photograph opens up so many questions, leaving us to find our own answers.