Landscape 1644 - 1911

Editor: Here we have Zheng Bin's "Landscape," made sometime between 1644 and 1911. It looks like ink and pen on paper, and is currently housed at The Met. The composition feels both serene and slightly melancholy, like a memory fading. What stands out to you about the materials and their impact? Curator: Well, look at the paper itself. It isn't pristine. It bears the mark of time and likely some labor in its own creation. That aged quality influences how we perceive the ink. What kind of labor do you think went into both the making and the acquiring of these materials? Editor: I suppose sourcing the materials then was significantly different than now. Preparing the ink, crafting the paper by hand…it all speaks to a slower, more deliberate pace. It's also likely those materials, high-quality inks, were signifiers of status, no? Curator: Exactly. Ink wasn’t just ink; it was connected to social standing. Moreover, the seemingly simple act of repeated brushstrokes is labor. Now, considering its period, what kind of social message is conveyed using those kinds of material limitations or affordances? Editor: I'm beginning to think about how the artist using pen and ink creates a direct connection with a tradition while maybe alluding to social or political concerns by *how* they depict this Landscape and by merely the act of consuming these materials to begin with. I will consider this more deeply in my studies. Curator: Precisely. Always be mindful that art is always embedded with socioeconomic meaning.