Platform Rocker c. 1940

Editor: Here we have Ursula Lauderdale's "Platform Rocker," circa 1940, made with watercolor and drawing. It's quite simple, a drawing of just a rocking chair. What jumps out to you? Curator: I see a detailed rendering of a common household object elevated to art. The artist uses watercolor, a medium traditionally associated with amateur art or studies. What does it mean to painstakingly reproduce this mundane object using this specific material? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way, it being not some important object. Why make this chair so important? Curator: Perhaps Lauderdale is asking us to consider the labor involved in crafting even the simplest object. The weaving, the carpentry—these processes involve human effort. Watercolor itself demands a certain kind of labour – patience and control. How does that change our understanding of art versus craft, high art versus functional object? Editor: It's interesting you point out labor. It's so easy to forget about where our belongings come from when mass production exists. Curator: Exactly. This image could be interpreted as a comment on pre-mass production, showing attention to the details now easily forgotten in our modern era. Where are the marks of the artist’s hand? Editor: Now I see. You can almost trace the artist’s meticulousness by how detailed the wood grain and weaving is depicted. I appreciate how you pointed out the material and its cultural weight, revealing new layers of meaning. Curator: Focusing on materials and means of production changes everything, doesn't it? It reframes our relationship with the everyday.