La Redoute, Lille, France Possibly 1989 - 2006

Lewis Baltz made this photograph, La Redoute, Lille, France, using photography. It's all about lines, isn't it? A grid where everything seems to be neatly organized into modular units, like a Minimalist sculpture by Judd or LeWitt. I wonder what Baltz was thinking when he took this photo? Was he struck by the eerie beauty of this place, or was he more interested in its geometry and how it reflected the cold rationality of modern technology? I get the impression that the architecture has a soul of its own. The repetition of the forms feels so obsessive. There's something so sterile about the place, like a laboratory, and the blue cables inside the machine are quite seductive, they almost look like veins. It makes me think of other photographers like Bernd and Hilla Becher, who also documented industrial structures. They all seem to be having a conversation about the changing landscape and our relationship with technology. It's a conversation that continues to evolve as new artists build on these ideas and challenge our perceptions.