Senju in the Musachi provimce 

Editor: Here we have Hokusai's woodblock print, "Senju in the Musachi Province." It's hard not to notice how the wooden frames almost slice the image, disrupting our view. What do you make of this print? Curator: I find it compelling when considering the social conditions of production. Hokusai’s art, seemingly about landscape, becomes a document of labor and material reality. Those wooden frames – are they scaffolding? An abandoned construction project? It interrupts the picturesque, doesn't it? Editor: It certainly does. It pulls me away from that distant, iconic view of Mount Fuji. Is he making a commentary on urban development versus nature? Curator: Perhaps. But I also see a focus on the material realities: the wood itself, the labor involved in its shaping, transport, and assembly. This woodblock print, a multiple, lowers the threshold between craft and high art. What processes do you imagine went into creating the final work? Editor: Well, he would have needed skilled block cutters and printers to reproduce this image. The precision is incredible. But why include what looks like construction materials in a landscape view? Curator: That’s precisely the question. Hokusai may be challenging traditional artistic boundaries by showing how landscape isn’t some separate sphere. Look at the horse heavily loaded with materials, and figures, the labour that transforms the land, consuming resources to build and cultivate. This interplay speaks volumes about society and our manipulation of nature. Editor: So it's not just about *what* is depicted, but *how* it's made, distributed, and consumed within a specific society. I never considered prints that way. Curator: Exactly. Examining materiality transforms how we understand the artist’s intent, focusing our eye to more fully appreciate the art itself.