Photo Gallery: His & Hers

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Here’s a classic case of ascribing human traits to nonhuman things. When I visited the salvage yard of Associated Building Wreckers in Springfield for a story earlier this month I found dozens of these bare-bones bathtubs, stripped of their hardware, all stacked neatly in pairs — side by side. In a case of anthropomorphism gone awry, I read surprised — maybe even concerned — “faces” into the patterns of standardized openings where the missing hardware would go. In art, as elsewhere, placing two objects next to each other often creates space for a third meaning, intended or not. And in these pairings I saw the tubs perhaps as old married couples, or even old friends (maybe both!), forever stamped with a look of part wonder, part acceptance.

— Kevin Gutting