Model of a Gun Port of a Floating Battery 1861

Curator: What strikes you first about this object? For me, it's the imposing stillness—the silence before the storm, you might say. Editor: Yes, an odd kind of quietude for something so inherently about conflict and destruction. I’m drawn to the texture and assembly; the way these planks of wood, rough-hewn, come together to suggest much bigger industrial processes. Curator: You're right, and that potential for devastation lurks in every precisely-crafted piece. This is "Model of a Gun Port of a Floating Battery," created anonymously around 1861, and, yes, it's made entirely of wood. Notice the almost religious severity of the geometric shapes... Do you see in it the echo of older fortresses, perhaps even sacred architecture? Editor: Absolutely. These materials had their own symbolic valence, you know, separate from its industrial purpose, before they became instruments of war. Thinking about that transformation interests me. What did it mean, materially, to be processing all that timber at such an accelerated rate during this time? And for what destructive ends? Curator: Indeed. What about the small details, the way that metal hinge, meant for closing the gun port, looks so frail. The way light catches and reflects on the wood suggests human vulnerability more broadly. Editor: Exactly, it becomes profoundly suggestive about technology and its relationship to violence. Its objecthood points us towards social forces that would come to shape and scar landscape and people. Curator: Even a piece crafted in wood, such as this model, invites profound questions. Thank you for your insightful analysis. Editor: The pleasure was all mine. It seems like it encapsulates how raw materials could easily become weapons during a civil war.