Commission Exhibit Number 541 1967

This photograph, “Commission Exhibit Number 541,” by an anonymous artist, looks at a rifle with a clinical eye. The gray scale is matter of fact, but the light catches on the metallic surfaces, revealing a strange, cold beauty. Looking closely, I see that the artist focuses on the details of the weapon. The textures are almost tactile. You can almost feel the coldness of the metal, the precision of its engineering. This kind of looking isn't a concealed process, it is about opening up a kind of direct access to the object itself. The composition is dominated by the long, sleek lines of the rifle, drawing my eye along its length. The dark areas of shadow and highlight create depth and volume. It reminds me a bit of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s photographs of industrial structures. Both share an interest in the aesthetics of functional objects. Is art not a way to contemplate and consider the world and the objects within it, even, or especially, the uncomfortable ones?