Gezicht op de schouwburg van de Wereldtentoonstelling van 1905 in Luik 1905

This is a photographic postcard of the Theatre at the 1905 World Exhibition in Liege, made by an anonymous artist. It's a straightforward black-and-white image, and the "procédé breveté" marking suggests the use of a patented, likely automated printing method. The photograph itself is less remarkable than what it represents: a building made for a World's Fair. These events were celebrations of industrial prowess, and architecture was central to the spectacle. Enormous, elaborate buildings were erected, often using the latest in materials and engineering. But here's the rub: most of these structures were temporary, built to last only for the duration of the fair. Consider the implications of this planned obsolescence. Think of the labor involved in quarrying stone or fabricating steel, only for these materials to be discarded shortly thereafter. This photograph, a mass-produced item itself, invites us to consider the intersection of progress, labor, and the relentless cycle of production and consumption.