Detail van een driepotige tafel naar ontwerp van Mathieu Lauweriks c. 1910

This photograph shows a detail of a three-legged table designed by Mathieu Lauweriks. What strikes me is the light, how it hits that carved figure forming the leg of the table. It's like the photographer was really thinking about the moment they clicked the shutter, trying to capture something more than just a piece of furniture. You know, when you look at the way the light defines the edges, it reminds me of how important light is when you're trying to make something three-dimensional pop off a flat surface. The texture almost feels like you could reach out and touch it, feel the smoothness of the carved wood, but it’s all just light and shadow. That carved figure—it's not just functional, it's expressive. It reminds me of the work of the Bechers, Bernd and Hilla Becher, in their photographic focus on industrial structures. They made a big grid of water towers or gas holders, inviting the viewer to think of each item as an individual sculpture as well as a constituent of a larger typology. It's art. It's design. But, whatever, maybe it's both.