Vase c. 1953

Editor: This is an anonymous glass vase at the Harvard Art Museums. It is simple, nearly square. What do you make of its minimalist form? Curator: It makes me think of the radical simplification of form within the Bauhaus movement. The absence of ornamentation is itself a statement. In what ways does denying decoration democratize design? Editor: I hadn’t considered that! It feels like it presents a more utilitarian object. Curator: Precisely. The vase becomes more about function and less about class or status. Does the transparency of the glass also speak to this idea of openness and accessibility? Editor: That’s a great point. I never thought of transparency as a political statement before. Curator: It can be. Thinking about context transforms our understanding of the ordinary.