Untitled (people in costume at Beaux Arts Ball, chicken and tiki-god) c. 1950

Curator: This peculiar photograph by Jack Gould shows people in costume at a Beaux Arts Ball, one dressed as a chicken and the other as a tiki-god. Editor: My first thought is that this is such a bizarre pairing of symbols. The tiki figure especially feels like a misappropriation of cultural imagery. Curator: That’s an interesting point. The chicken could represent folly, a playful yet critical symbol. The tiki, however, echoes something much older, hinting at ritual and perhaps exoticism. Editor: Exactly. And the context of a Beaux Arts Ball adds layers of meaning. Who are these people, and what statements are they trying to make through these costumes? Is it satire or insensitive appropriation? Curator: It's difficult to know, but these costumes could speak to a broader cultural fascination with the “primitive” versus the “civilized,” a theme common in early 20th-century art. The chicken is a more recent addition to the Western bestiary of symbols. Editor: So, it's an archive of performative identity, captured in a single, somewhat unsettling frame. Curator: Indeed. It captures a specific moment and its complexities. Editor: Yes, a moment we can't quite decipher but one that makes us question the codes of representation.