Untitled ("Drill Sergeant Rated No. 1") 1971

Curator: This piece by Donald Blumberg is entitled "Untitled ('Drill Sergeant Rated No. 1')". It features a reproduced newspaper clipping. Editor: Stark. The tight cropping and the grayscale lend a certain severity to the subject's profile. It feels very impersonal. Curator: Indeed. The choice of a newspaper clipping implicates mass media and the dissemination of military achievement as a spectacle. The materiality of newsprint itself is a commentary on the disposability of information. Editor: The inherent contrast of the printing also flattens the subject, turning him into an archetype rather than an individual, fitting with the "Drill Sergeant" title. Curator: Precisely. It compels us to consider the socio-political context of the image, the military-industrial complex, and the culture of accolades within that system. Editor: Considering the artist's choices, the formal composition mirrors the dehumanizing effect of the military machine. An unnerving image. Curator: A pointed reflection on the systems that shape our perceptions of valor and service.