Anhydrite 

Editor: This is "Anhydrite," produced by U.S. Gypsum Co. The setup is rather clinical, almost scientific. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: The label "Anhydrite" itself acts as a symbol, a signifier of dryness, of something without water. Note how the sample card stages the material in different states. Can you see the shift from raw mineral to its application with linseed oil? Editor: Yes, I see that shift. It's subtle, but it's there. Is there a message in that transformation? Curator: Perhaps it speaks to alchemy, doesn’t it? Turning the raw into the refined, the potential into the manifest, through human intervention. We imprint our intention and labor onto the very earth itself. Editor: That makes me see this piece in a completely new light. I appreciate that so much.