Untitled (chimp and monkey performing tricks on cart) c. 1950

Editor: This photograph, "Untitled (chimp and monkey performing tricks on cart)" by Jack Gould, shows a bizarre scene. The labor involved in training animals for entertainment is what strikes me. What's your take on it? Curator: It's about the production of spectacle. Look at the staged backdrop, the costumes—all manufactured to create this image. Consider the socio-economic forces at play. Who profits from this display, and at what cost? Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way, focusing on the exploitation inherent in entertainment like this. Thank you. Curator: Consider how the animals are commodified. It's a portrait of constructed entertainment as commodity.