Landscapes, Flowers and Birds 1639

Editor: This is "Landscapes, Flowers and Birds," created in 1639 by Xiang Shengmo. It’s rendered in ink, and there’s a quiet simplicity to the image, almost a sparseness. How would you interpret this piece? Curator: What interests me is the conscious act of *making* ink. Not just the application, but the physical labor involved in grinding the inkstick, preparing it. It’s all crucial to the meaning here. Consider that alongside the scarcity of resources available in this Ming dynasty context. Editor: So you see the work in relation to the labor involved in creating the ink, and what that reveals about artistic production in this era? Curator: Exactly. Think of ink not as a passive medium, but as a material intensely linked to value and societal power structures. Ink production would be tied to particular sites and communities. The way the artist has treated and handled that very material has immense relevance. And we should acknowledge the significance of this artist specifically using ink at this moment, compared to paint or other medium available. What’s revealed to us, in seeing brushstrokes and layered shades in monochrome, when color could have easily been an option? Editor: It’s amazing to consider all those material and labor-related implications, something I hadn't initially thought about with what seems like such a simple image! Curator: Yes. And what about the paper, its preparation and sourcing? Every material tells a story about the means of production and consumption within a society.