South Station, Boston, Massachusetts c. 20th century

Curator: This is Otto Frederick Langmann's drawing of South Station in Boston, currently held in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's a ghostly quality to it, like a memory fading in and out. The locomotive seems less like a functional machine and more like a slumbering beast within its cage. Curator: I'm drawn to the symbolism of the train itself – a powerful engine of progress, tied to ideas of journey, escape, and perhaps, the industrial spirit of the age. But it's indoors. Editor: And the station’s infrastructure! Look at all the beams and supports. It's an environment constructed from raw materials, where labor and movement converge. Curator: It's interesting how he captured the almost cathedral-like structure. Light streams in through the skeletal frame of the building, transforming it into a temple of transit. Editor: Exactly. This isn't just a pretty picture, it is a document showing us the sheer amount of stuff and labor required to keep the trains running. Curator: It makes you ponder the cultural impact of train travel – the dreams and desires attached to these destinations. Editor: Yes, a reminder of the raw material conditions which enable the very idea of "going somewhere."