Untitled (model window, closed) c. 1950

This is Robert Burian’s ‘Untitled (model window, closed)’, a photographic work of modest size. At first glance, it may seem straightforward: a window, neatly framed, with one side slightly ajar. But it's the very act of making, the photographic process itself, that's central here. The cool, gray tones and the starkness of the composition emphasize the industrial nature of the window, its mass-produced quality, and the labor involved in its creation. The window’s crisp lines and geometric forms give it a kind of modernist aesthetic, but it is also just a window. What makes this photograph of interest is the contrast between the mundane and the artistic. Burian makes us see the window as an object, a thing, not just as a portal to somewhere else. He challenges our preconceptions about what constitutes art, inviting us to find beauty and meaning in the everyday. It challenges the traditional distinctions between design and art, prompting us to consider how objects are made, and how that making shapes our understanding of the world around us.