Ely Cathedral 

Editor: This is John Harris's "Ely Cathedral." It's undated, but Harris lived from 1686 to 1740. It looks like ink on paper. What catches my eye is the sheer labor involved in creating such a detailed image. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a document of early industrial capitalism. Consider the division of labor implicit in constructing a cathedral like Ely, then replicated in Harris' print. The paper, the ink, the printing process – all products of increasingly specialized and exploited labor. Editor: So, you're saying the drawing itself reflects the economic system that built the cathedral? Curator: Precisely. It's not just a depiction; it's a material artifact of that system. We should look at the mode of production. Editor: That’s a fascinating perspective. I hadn't considered the printmaking process in that way. Curator: Art isn't just aesthetics; it's a product of its time, embedded within material conditions.