A. Ladder Box 1970

Curator: This is "A. Ladder Box" by Gordon House. House, born in 1932, was known for his abstract prints, paintings, and sculpture. Editor: It has a very stark, almost regimented feel. I'm immediately drawn to the repetitive nature of the forms and the contrast. Curator: His work often blurred the lines between fine art and design. This print, with its use of simple geometric forms, could be seen as a commentary on the industrialization of art production. Editor: I see that. The precision here and the clear intention feels very deliberate, like a designed object and less like something purely expressive. Were these mass-produced? Curator: It's a print, so it exists in multiple, but each would have been created individually using a printing press. The labor involved in each pull is significant. Editor: So the tension between the handmade and the mechanical remains. Thinking about the context, I wonder how its starkness played into the artistic conversations of the time. Curator: Exactly, and it's this push and pull between process and concept that keeps it relevant today. Editor: It does give us so much to consider, even in its simplicity.