Metal Trivet c. 1942

Curator: Well, what strikes you first about this "Metal Trivet," a drawing from around 1942 by Violet Hartenstein? Editor: Stark simplicity, almost a diagram. It’s floating there, caught between function and… nothingness, I guess. Is this drawing itself the final piece or was it the model for a physical trivet? Curator: It’s fascinating, isn't it? Hartenstein has given us a realistic drawing done in pencil, yet it retains an airy quality due to its minimalist presentation. It emphasizes the inherent geometries embedded in functional design. Trivets protect tables, they become part of rituals of dining, protecting shared surfaces and in turn facilitating conversations, nourishment, and even community building. So what stories might they protect in turn? Editor: And the way she uses the negative space around it... It looks like she's isolated a tiny survivor from some grand mechanical collapse. I see repetition in those circles, a suggestion of wholeness continually fragmented. But I am drawn to this almost desperate clarity. Is there something mournful about a record of daily things, objects outlasting the purpose, a reminder that this isn’t forever? Curator: Perhaps it reflects a wartime anxiety. It does beg questions, particularly considering its date. It certainly makes you contemplate the world it was made in, one of war and uncertainty where people wanted order and utility, while surrounded by chaos and loss. How can everyday objects be imbued with larger historical context? Or how can it feel intensely solitary too despite it all? Editor: And what do those rounded perforations evoke? A connection? A reminder of other hands and lives touched by warmth radiating from it? Perhaps the image alludes to the unseen connections supporting those ordinary moments amidst everything, the strength drawn from shared experience. It’s odd to ponder something as banal as a metal trivet as a signifier. Curator: I agree. It serves as a bridge between something incredibly common to something monumental. I like what it conveys, so effortlessly, almost subconsciously. A simple geometric image reflecting broader humanity. Editor: Indeed, it’s a rather humble lesson in finding profound significance where one expects it least, isn't it?