Slaked Lime, Lime White, Bianco Sangiovanni 1942

Editor: So, this is "Slaked Lime, Lime White, Bianco Sangiovanni" by Howe & French, Inc. It's... just a lump of white material. What am I missing? What do you see in this seemingly mundane object? Curator: It's about interrogation. Howe & French are foregrounding the materials that enable so much other art. Think about the labor, the extraction, and the environmental impact. This isn't just "white"; it's about the power structures inherent in resources and artistic production. Where was the limestone quarried? Who profits? Editor: It's a raw material, but elevated. So, by presenting it this way, are they trying to make us question the foundations of art itself? Curator: Precisely! And also, the wider capitalist systems that commodify everything, even the earth itself. It's deceptively simple, a powerful statement. Editor: Wow. I would have walked right past this. Now I see it’s not just a thing, it’s a question.