Damar Picture Varnish 

Curator: A curious still life, wouldn't you say? The Harvard Art Museums present an untitled photograph featuring Damar Picture Varnish. Editor: It's visually stark. A color checker almost confronts the viewer while the varnish itself is bagged like evidence. Curator: Indeed. Note the tonal range in that checker, juxtaposed with the amber hue of the varnish. There's a deliberate interplay of light and form. Editor: I see it as a commentary on preservation, who gets remembered, and the systems that decide what is worth archiving. It's about institutional power. Curator: Perhaps, but one can also appreciate the photograph as a study in texture and the geometry of mundane objects. Editor: But isn't that precisely the point? Even mundane objects carry their own social weight and histories. Curator: A compelling debate, to be sure. Editor: Exactly, something to consider.