Building under construction--Architecture 1941 - 1945

Editor: Robert Frank’s black and white photograph, simply titled “Building under construction—Architecture," was taken sometime between 1941 and 1945. The sharp diagonals of scaffolding create such a dynamic composition. What catches your eye in this piece? Curator: I see a powerful record of the construction process itself, not just the finished building. The visible labor, the raw materials... these things speak to the social context of building and development. Editor: So, you're focusing on the making of it, the labor. It makes me wonder who those workers were. Curator: Exactly! And how the act of building itself shapes our environment, physically and socially. Consider the materiality here - the rough-hewn scaffolding juxtaposed with the implied solidity of the building to come. Editor: It challenges the traditional view, right? Art isn't just the polished end product, but the grit of getting there? Curator: Precisely. This photograph blurs the lines between documenting labour, commenting on construction, and artmaking. Look closely at how the scaffolding obscures the actual structure, almost overwhelming it. Editor: Yes, it almost swallows the building! So Frank is shifting our focus away from the architectural achievement to the labor required to realize that building. It speaks to the conditions that influenced art making in that period, no? Curator: Yes, in what conditions was art making actually feasible? Whose work mattered, and what materials could they access to document it? I hadn’t considered it in such pointed terms before! Editor: Thanks. Looking at art as material evidence—it adds a whole new layer.