Ontwerp voor een spiegel en een portaal c. 1867 - 1870

Editor: So, this drawing is "Ontwerp voor een spiegel en een portaal," a design for a mirror and a portal, made by Joseph Kusterer around 1867-1870. It's pen on paper. It's pretty symmetrical, but what stands out to me is the mix of rigidity and flourishes. What's your interpretation of this piece? Curator: I see this as a reflection—literally and figuratively—of societal power structures embedded in architecture. Think about the design's classicism; it harkens back to Roman ideals, ideas resurrected to justify hierarchies in the 19th century. This wasn't just about aesthetics; it was about visually reinforcing ideas about who had access, who belonged, who was reflected—or not—in these spaces. Do you see how the mirror becomes a symbolic gatekeeper? Editor: I didn't think about it like that. The symmetry feels…almost oppressive now that you mention it. So, the portal mimics the mirror in controlling access, only instead of reflecting, it filters bodies moving through space? Curator: Precisely. These portals, physically and metaphorically, dictated movement and access, privileging some while marginalizing others. Kusterer may have been just fulfilling a commission, but artists can become agents who both reflect and perpetuate systems of power. How can we critically examine designs like these today and use that to challenge contemporary power dynamics? Editor: That’s a great question. By recognizing the visual cues that historically symbolized authority, we can identify how these cues might still be operating in contemporary architecture to either welcome or exclude certain populations, right? Curator: Exactly. By understanding how designs are infused with this rhetoric, we have to ask ourselves whose vision gets manifested in architectural design and whose is ignored. And then, we can maybe think about art's role in helping dismantle systems of oppression. Editor: Definitely some heavy thoughts there, but that reframing makes the drawing much more thought-provoking. Thanks for opening my eyes!