About
Objectified: Methods in Environmental Humanities is an exhibition featuring selections from the Joel Snyder Materials Collection and beyond. The materials and objects included in the exhibition represent a reckoning with some of the planet’s most pressing concerns, from climate change to biodiversity loss, through humanistic inquiry.
Staged in the CWAC Exhibitions space on the 2nd floor of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center during Winter Quarter 2024 in collaboration with Dr. Jessica Landau and students in the Methods in Environmental Humanities seminar offered by the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU), the exhibition foregrounds an interdisciplinary lens through which the contributors approach the environmental humanities. Students interrogate how humanistic disciplines such as art history, Indigenous studies, animal studies, comparative literature, and history serve as emerging methods through which we might understand the environment. Collectively, the student curators contemplate our everyday relationships with the built environment, natural resources, and stolen land through humanistic lines of inquiry.
To demonstrate how an interpretation can change depending on the methodological approach used or theoretical lens applied to an object, student curators were asked to produce two distinct labels using at least two different methodologies. To read both labels, as well as student explanations of their methodological approaches, click on an image from the exhibition.
Objectified: Methods in Environmental Humanities is co-curated by Dr. Jessica Landau and student curators from her Winter 2024 Methods in the Environmental Humanities seminar: Yufei Chen (AB’26, Comparative Literature), Jess Senger (AB’24, Environmental Science [major] & Environmental and Urban Studies [minor]), Damary Alvarez (AB’25, Global Studies & Human Rights), Jack McDonald (AB’25, Public Policy & Environmental Science), Mariana Reed (AB’26, Environment, Geography and Urbanization [major] & Education [minor]), Justin Daab (Fellow, Leadership & Society Initiative), and Owen Castle (AB’25, Math & Environmental and Urban Studies).
About
Objectified: Methods in Environmental Humanities is an exhibition featuring selections from the Joel Snyder Materials Collection and beyond. The materials and objects included in the exhibition represent a reckoning with some of the planet’s most pressing concerns, from climate change to biodiversity loss, through humanistic inquiry.
Staged in the CWAC Exhibitions space on the 2nd floor of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center during Winter Quarter 2024 in collaboration with Dr. Jessica Landau and students in the Methods in Environmental Humanities seminar offered by the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU), the exhibition foregrounds an interdisciplinary lens through which the contributors approach the environmental humanities. Students interrogate how humanistic disciplines such as art history, Indigenous studies, animal studies, comparative literature, and history serve as emerging methods through which we might understand the environment. Collectively, the student curators contemplate our everyday relationships with the built environment, natural resources, and stolen land through humanistic lines of inquiry.
To demonstrate how an interpretation can change depending on the methodological approach used or theoretical lens applied to an object, student curators were asked to produce two distinct labels using at least two different methodologies. To read both labels, as well as student explanations of their methodological approaches, click on an image from the exhibition.
Objectified: Methods in Environmental Humanities is co-curated by Dr. Jessica Landau and student curators from her Winter 2024 Methods in the Environmental Humanities seminar: Yufei Chen (AB’26, Comparative Literature), Jess Senger (AB’24, Environmental Science [major] & Environmental and Urban Studies [minor]), Damary Alvarez (AB’25, Global Studies & Human Rights), Jack McDonald (AB’25, Public Policy & Environmental Science), Mariana Reed (AB’26, Environment, Geography and Urbanization [major] & Education [minor]), Justin Daab (Fellow, Leadership & Society Initiative), and Owen Castle (AB’25, Math & Environmental and Urban Studies).
Curator: Yufei Chen (AB’26, Comparative Literature)
Label One
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Reproduction of Spring Morning in Han Palace
漢宮春曉圖(複製品)
Handscroll, ink on paper
30.6 x 574.1 cm
After original Ming Dynasty 明朝 (1368-1644) handscroll by
Qiu Ying 仇英 (Chinese artist ca. 1494-1552) in the National Palace Musuem, Taipei
Joel Snyder Materials Collection, 2020.101
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Qiu Ying, a celebrated Ming Dynasty artist, crafted this handscroll to depict the imagined splendor of a historical Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) palace. Its composition flows from right to left, featuring a garden adorned with trees and rare rocks against the backdrop of royal architecture. Court ladies are depicted indulging in the arts, literature, and botany within the open chambers. In contrast, the palace’s female servants are burdened with chores, traversing the chambers with their heads lowered.
Among these scenes, the portrayal of Mao Yanshou (毛延壽) and Wang Zhaojun (王昭君) is particularly reminiscent of the Han Dynasty. According to the story, Han Emperor Yuandi ordered the artist Mao Yanshou to paint portraits of his concubines. All but the virtuous Zhaojun bribed Mao for flattering depictions. Receiving no bribe from Zhaojun, Mao portrayed her less attractively, thus concealing her beauty. When a barbarian chieftain sought a Han wife, Emperor Yuandi was misled by the portrait and chose Wang Zhaojun. Her true beauty, revealed upon their meeting, astonished the emperor. Enraged by Mao’s deceit, Emperor Yuandi had him executed. Nevertheless, Wang Zhaojun became the chieftain’s wife, her beauty acknowledged only too late.
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In my first label, I employed the methodologies of critical fabulation and visual analysis. These were simultaneously applied in examining the handscroll, as the construction of the fabula necessitated meticulous observations. This approach achieved two primary objectives. Firstly, it aimed to accentuate the experiences of the female servants depicted in the handscroll. These individuals are often illustrated facing away and walking alone, possessing limited means to attract direct visual attention. This focus draws inspiration from Hartman’s advocacy to “make visible the production of disposable lives”.1 In this handscroll, a pronounced contrast is evident between the opulent lives of court ladies and their female servants. By highlighting this dichotomy, we direct the audience’s attention to a broader spectrum of subjects depicted. Secondly, I intended to narrate the story of Mao Yanshou and Wang Zhaojun,2 which would be largely unfamiliar to the predominantly American audience of the exhibition. This scene is critical not only for its historical content but also because it explains the uniqueness of the painter as the sole adult male within the palace. I anticipate viewers to notice this anomaly and, through the narrative, comprehend the painter’s presence within a historical context. This forms a fabula in itself, as viewers may be less familiar with historical narratives outside the handscroll’s original cultural milieu than they would be in a museum located in that specific culture. Hence, reading the label grants viewers a comprehensive understanding of this handscroll through narrative.
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1. Saidiya Hartman, “Venus in Two Acts,” Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism 12, no. 2 (June 1, 2008): 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1215/-12-2-1.
2. Jeni Fraser, “Unfurled: The Chinese Handscroll | The Arts Society,” accessed January 28, 2024, https://theartssociety.org/arts-news-features/unfurled-chinese-handscroll.
Label Two
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Reproduction of Spring Morning in Han Palace
漢宮春曉圖(複製品)
Handscroll, ink on paper
30.6 x 574.1 cm
After original Ming Dynasty 明朝 (1368-1644) handscroll by
Qiu Ying 仇英 (Chinese artist ca. 1494-1552) in the National Palace Musuem, Taipei
Joel Snyder Materials Collection, 2020.101
—
Qiu Ying, a celebrated Ming Dynasty artist, brings to life a Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) palace in this handscroll. The panoramic view from right to left reveals a garden with trees and unique rocks, set against a backdrop of royal architecture. Court ladies are depicted indulging in the arts, literature, and botany within the open chambers. Animals also appear in various locations, interacting with the palace residents. One scene depicts a child lifting a puppy from the ground under the watchful eyes of his mother. In another scene, a cat rests on a stool behind a group of practicing musicians. A pair of peacocks gather under the window to be fed.
The theme of “Spring Morning in the Palaces of Han” (漢宮春曉) is popular amongst artists who seek to recapture the long-lost grandeur of Han dynasty. These works offer an idealized representation of the “Han palace” as imagined through the lens of later periods. Qiu Ying’s work, while rooted in historical Han themes, incorporates elements like the peacocks that symbolize fortune only in later Ming culture. These anachronisms in the handscroll become a testament to the evolving artistic narrative, bridging past and present.
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In my second label, I integrated Haraway’s theory of companion species with historical analysis to shed light on often-overlooked multispecies relationships in the peripheries. The handscroll depicts a child interacting with a puppy, exemplifying Haraway’s concept of “an emergent process of co-habiting”.3 Additionally, the depicted cat, while demonstrating less physical dependence on humans, claims a distinct right to rest on a well-crafted stool, without disturbing the band’s rehearsal. This aligns with Haraway’s concept of constructing “rights” between companion species and human, as exemplified by the mutual respect between musicians and the cat. Transitioning to a historical analysis, I sought to inform readers that the handscroll’s title, “Spring Morning in the Palaces of Han”, is not unique to this piece.4 My research indicated that peacocks, instead of being a theme of Han paintings, actually belonged to Qiu Ying’s contemporary Ming Dynasty culture.5 Ultimately, my objective is to dismantle viewers’ preconceptions about the painting’s title, thereby heightening their awareness of the significant temporal and cultural gap between the depicted Han Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. This, I hope, will promote critical thinking among viewers regarding artistic representations of the past.
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3. Donna Jeanne Haraway, The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness, Paradigm 8 (Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press, 2003).
4. Anita Chung, Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China (University of Hawai’i Press, 2004), https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqrvg.
5. Ying Ding and Xiaolong Li, “On the Decoration and Symbolization of Chinese Ancient Official Uniform in Ming and Qing Dynasties:” (2014 International Conference on Mechatronics, Electronic, Industrial and Control Engineering (MEIC-14), Shenyang, China, 2014), https://doi.org/10.2991/meic-14.2014.229.
In composing the tombstone for the two labels, I referenced label formats from the National Palace Museum in Taipei,6 where this painting is housed, and the Art Institute of Chicago, to understand how an eminent American art museum presents information about early Chinese art. Notably, the Art Institute categorizes pre-PRC artists equally as “Chinese.”7 However, in my tombstone, I chose not to follow this practice. The term “ancient China” seems like an externally imposed nomenclature, whereas people historically identified their nations by dynasty names. Additionally, I incorporated photographs of specific scenes mentioned in the label for two key reasons. Firstly, to highlight the exact portrayal of the discussed details in the labels, and secondly, to enhance the label’s interactive potential. Given the visual richness of the work, pinpointing these detailed shots can encourage viewers to engage more critically and thoroughly with the artwork.
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6. National Palace Museum, “Painting Animation: Spring Dawn in the Han Palace,” Exhibits, National Palace Museum (National Palace Museum, June 29, 2018), https://theme.npm.edu.tw/exh107/npm_anime/SpringDawn/en/index.html.
7. Wen Zhengming, Autumn Mountains 秋⼭圖, 1550 1510, Handscroll; ink on gold-flecked paper, 31.8 × 120.8 cm (12 9/16 × 47 9/16 in.), 1550 1510, https://www.artic.edu/artworks/62536/autumn-mountains-%E7%A7%8B%E5%B1%B1%E5%9C%96.
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Bibliography
Chung, Anita. Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China. University of Hawai’i Press, 2004. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqrvg.
Ding, Ying, and Xiaolong Li. “On the Decoration and Symbolization of Chinese Ancient Official Uniform in Ming and Qing Dynasties:” Shenyang, China, 2014.
https://doi.org/10.2991/meic-14.2014.229.
Fraser, Jeni. “Unfurled: The Chinese Handscroll | The Arts Society.” Accessed January 28, 2024. https://theartssociety.org/arts-news-features/unfurled-chinese-handscroll.
Haraway, Donna Jeanne. The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness. Paradigm 8. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press, 2003.
Hartman, Saidiya. “Venus in Two Acts.” Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism 12, no. 2 (June 1, 2008): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1215/-12-2-1.
Museum, National Palace. “Painting Animation: Spring Dawn in the Han Palace.” Exhibits. National Palace Museum. National Palace Museum, June 29, 2018. https://theme.npm.edu.tw/exh107/npm_anime/SpringDawn/en/index.html.
Zhengming, Wen. Autumn Mountains 秋⼭圖. 1550 1510. Handscroll; ink on gold-flecked paper, 31.8 × 120.8 cm (12 9/16 × 47 9/16 in.). https://www.artic.edu/artworks/62536/autumn-mountains-%E7%A7%8B%E5%B1%B1%E5%9C%96.