Carl’s 1977

Curator: Robert Cottingham's print, titled "Carl’s," presents a slice of urban commercial architecture. It's held here at the Tate Collections. Editor: The textures and dense lettering give off a distinctly gritty, almost claustrophobic feeling. It’s an interesting composition. Curator: Cottingham often focused on the materiality of signage—the ways in which layers of paint, metal, and light create a vernacular aesthetic, documenting the ordinary through a precise lens. Editor: I see in the repetition of "Carl's" and the other shop names, a visual echo of consumerism’s constant messaging, almost like an oppressive mantra of the marketplace. The "S" is rather striking. Curator: The lack of human presence further emphasizes the constructed nature of our environment and the labor involved in maintaining these spaces. Editor: Perhaps. It evokes a sense of loneliness, though, doesn't it? Almost a commentary on the ephemerality of these commercial symbols. Curator: Indeed, a commentary on the built environment, its construction and deconstruction. Fascinating.