Untitled (scientific chart on wall at research facility) c. 1950

Editor: This is Jack Gould's small, untitled photograph of a scientific chart, found at Harvard Art Museums. The grid of numbers and letters feels very clinical and detached. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: The labor behind the creation of such a chart is essential. These tools, made for scientific work, embody specific intentions of data collection and organization. What does the contrast between its utilitarian origin and its place in an art museum suggest about value? Editor: So, it's less about the image itself and more about how it's used and where it ends up? That's fascinating. Curator: Precisely. Consider the consumption and context: is it art because of its materiality, or its transformation into an aesthetic object?