Rookgasventilator Possibly 1939

Here's a black and white photograph of a Rookgasventilator, a smoke exhaust fan, made by an anonymous artist. Look at the scale, it’s huge! It dwarfs the two guys hanging around for scale. The circular form of the fan contrasts so strikingly with the rectangular architecture around it. I imagine the artist thinking about airflow, about the engineering challenges of such a large piece. Did they work with a team, problem-solving the balance between functionality and form? I can almost hear the factory noises, the clanging and bustling around this massive object. It makes me wonder about other artists working in similar industrial settings, maybe Diego Rivera with his Detroit Industry murals, finding beauty in the guts of machinery. This photograph reminds us that art exists in unexpected places and celebrates the ingenuity of human creation.