[no title] 1978

Editor: This photograph by John Piper, taken at an unrecorded date, captures a carved stone column, probably part of a church or other ancient structure. The way the stone is weathered makes me wonder about the labor required to carve it. What does this image say to you? Curator: I see an interplay between the material and the social. Consider the stone itself – where did it come from? Who quarried it? And what about the carvers? Were they local artisans or part of a larger, perhaps even exploitative, system? These questions refocus our attention onto the conditions of its creation. Editor: That’s fascinating. I hadn't considered the source of the stone, but now it feels like a crucial element of understanding the artwork. Curator: Exactly. By examining the materiality and the labor involved, we gain a richer, more critical perspective on this historical artifact. Editor: I will definitely think differently about artwork now!