[no title] 1995

Editor: This small image by Robert Therrien features a coffin, stark and central. It's undeniably somber. What symbolic weight does this seemingly simple image carry? Curator: The coffin is a potent symbol, evoking mortality, loss, but also transformation. Consider how cultures have used it - from literal sarcophagi to metaphorical containers of memory. Does the object's small scale soften or intensify its impact for you? Editor: It's interesting you mention cultural memory. Perhaps the size makes it feel more personal? Like a memento mori? Curator: Precisely. Therrien distills a universal concept into an intimate object, prompting reflection on our shared human experience, even our anxieties about death, which we try to contain. Editor: I never considered it could be about containment. Thanks! Curator: It makes you think about more than just the surface, doesn't it?