Ultra Marine 

Curator: What strikes me most is the bottle itself. It reminds me of an apothecary's jar, hinting at alchemical processes. Editor: Indeed, a rather fascinating artifact. The Harvard Art Museums hold this pigment, “Ultra Marine,” manufactured by Tizian Color Co. Curator: Ultra Marine. Even the name evokes a sense of the sublime, conjuring images of vast oceans or perhaps even the heavens. Editor: Consider how much labor, how much global trade is encompassed in this small jar. The preciousness of the color, its production, the glass container. Curator: That blue is so intense, a symbol of power and wealth throughout history, and it still holds that visual weight. Editor: The context shifts our perception. We're now looking at a manufactured thing, rather than a natural one, for art making. Curator: It's a potent reminder of how artists transform the mundane into something transcendent. Editor: And how industries enable that transformation. A symbiotic and sometimes fraught relationship, wouldn't you say?