Various Small Fires 1970

Editor: So, this is Edward Ruscha's "Various Small Fires." It's a photobook, and the image here depicts the cover. There’s something so still and quiet about it. What’s your take on this piece? Curator: Ruscha’s work arrives at a time when artists are questioning the role of photography and mass media. Do you think this book, depicting everyday objects, subverts the traditional artistic subject? Editor: I guess so! It’s like he's finding art in the mundane, in the same way that Warhol did with soup cans. Curator: Exactly! By presenting banal subjects, Ruscha challenges the viewer to consider the cultural significance we assign to images and their reproduction. Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way. It really makes you wonder what constitutes "art" in a mass-produced world. Curator: Indeed. It seems Ruscha compels us to see art's democratic and often subversive role in reflecting our values back to us.