Sf. Goenoengsari. Fundaties turbines gezien vanaf molenstation. 15-1-27. 1927

Curator: It is quite hard to see into this work, it has a skeletal quality. An intriguing, though at first unsettling, image that holds some symbolic resonance. Editor: This gelatin silver print from 1927 is titled "Sf. Goenoengsari. Fundaties turbines gezien vanaf molenstation. 15-1-27," and, like so many works in the Rijksmuseum's collection, is credited to an anonymous maker. It captures the foundations and turbines of Sf. Goenoengsari, seen from a mill station in Java, on January 15, 1927. Curator: Java, wow, so that grittiness must have some deep meaning! To my mind it embodies the industrial progress, and even an almost precarious vision, I can only imagine how innovative and bold all those turbines must have been to the Javanese. I can almost hear the whirring and hissing of energy contained. But there is the shadow of potential destruction! Editor: Absolutely! These intersecting lines form a stark network. It does point to progress and industrial ambition. You mentioned that feeling of things being on the precipice of a moment, I think that captures something essential: The black and white helps, stripping away the noise and zeroing in on the structures themselves, laying bare. It brings forth a feeling of premonition in some ways. Curator: Premonition yes. What's coming down the pike isn't so rosy either! The photograph embodies something almost ominous, given it predates the real shift, that very real destruction, or violent, historical "correction", of colonial power dynamics in the region, and everywhere actually. That geometric motif becomes, yes, bare, but also the architecture for a coming conflict, one already well in the works! Editor: Exactly, this resonates with the legacy and consequences of constructionism as a historical cultural force! A frozen instance filled with symbolism! I have to admit this is probably one of my favorite recent finds. Curator: I agree, so interesting to me how a picture reveals so much and hints so much! What seems initially a cold landscape becomes fraught!