Conversation with curator Harald F. Theiss about Carsten Becker’s series RAL and DIN. The discussion reveals how Becker uses historical color standards and standardized industrial objects to uncover layers of function, familial resonance, and political ambiguity—from camouflage tones to everyday items with unexpected charge—and how this research culminates in his precise photographic still lifes.

Utility objects do not come by their colors randomly, they are chosen according to standards. In Germany, the RAL standard sets the norm, a collection of colors that meets the requirements of public authorities, the military and industry. In his work, artist Carsten Becker is concerned with the gaps and continuities in this collection. It displays a microcosm of German history.