Ariel Dam, Washington [staat], Verenigde Staten: laagspanningsinstallatie 1936

Wouter Cool made this photograph of a low voltage installation on the Ariel Dam in Washington state, but when, we don't know. The pipes running along the wall are like a musical staff, and if you follow them closely, they lead you into the distance. The muted grey and beige tones give the piece a kind of austere beauty, don’t they? It’s like the quiet hum of machinery, a sort of industrial lullaby. Look at the way the light falls on the pipes, giving them a subtle texture, like a snake's scales. The metal brackets and the junction boxes create a rhythm, like notes on a page, or beats in a bar. It reminds me a little of some of the early industrial photography of the Bechers, with their interest in the mundane and overlooked. Cool, like the Bechers, finds a strange beauty in the everyday. It’s a reminder that art can be found in the most unexpected places.