From Christianshavn’s Canal, Copenhagen 1905

Editor: Hammershøi's "From Christianshavn’s Canal, Copenhagen," painted in 1905 with oil on canvas, strikes me as incredibly muted and almost ghostly. It’s all soft greys and browns. What’s your perspective on it? Curator: I am interested in Hammershøi’s treatment of the maritime world, primarily from the viewpoint of labor and material consumption. How are the boats rendered? Almost like husks. Their use value, in terms of trade and labour, has vanished. He shows us the waste of the old, the texture of disuse. Do you see any signs of contemporary life? Editor: Not really, just a few shapes and lines of what I believe would be ship masts and ship hulls, almost fading away with fog, right? The colour palette makes everything blend together… So, it shows how material turns immaterial through time? Curator: Exactly! It invites reflection on the physical remnants of industrial activity. The buildings, the boats... and on how materials are transformed through social and economic shifts. Where is the ship’s crew, where is the cargo? What once was active in contributing to society is no longer so, merely a shell of its use. It questions what becomes of these labour tools as they fade into history. How do we perceive something in terms of function versus art? Editor: So, it's about shifting from utility to art because of historical context, almost a ghostly presence in Copenhagen's cityscape. Thanks for sharing your insights. I'll definitely see it differently now. Curator: My pleasure. Hopefully, it inspires more to question not just what is there, but how did it become what it is, and what are the conditions of its creation.