Chinese Summerhall 1983

Editor: So this is Robert Rauschenberg’s "Chinese Summerhall," taken in 1983. It's a photograph, and it strikes me as an everyday street scene, almost a still life. The array of textiles hanging overhead is visually compelling. What do you see in this photograph? Curator: It’s fascinating to consider Rauschenberg’s focus here. I see a deliberate highlighting of the materiality of these textiles and garments. He’s documenting the labour involved in the textile production and commerce; what kinds of fabrics do you think they are and where do they come from? Editor: They look like silk scarves, maybe cotton too – definitely hinting at local production for the Chinese market. But isn't there also something to be said for his gaze as a Western artist, capturing this slice of life? Is that too simplistic? Curator: Precisely. It raises crucial questions about the global circulation of goods and cultural exchange. Consider the very act of photographing: film, the camera – these are also materials with specific origins and histories that mediate our understanding. What is being bought, sold, bartered or traded. Are those processes fairly priced? Who is involved in making them available? Editor: That shifts the perspective, almost making the process itself – from creation to display – the subject, rather than the aesthetic appeal of the colors or the composition. So how does this shift our understanding of "high art"? Curator: Exactly. Rauschenberg is challenging those boundaries. The everyday, the mundane – becomes worthy of artistic attention. He brings in the production methods, which includes highlighting and revealing processes often kept out of discussions regarding art history and meaning. Editor: I never considered art with that kind of depth before! I’ll have to keep the material process and the social-cultural backgrounds in my future considerations of the image and the photographical apparatus itself, as more than simply a snapshot of China! Curator: Indeed, always look beyond the surface! There is much more than an appealing image that must be addressed and analysed for artistic interpretation.