Landscape with Shepherds c. 18th century

Editor: This is Johann Christoph Sysang's "Landscape with Shepherds," an etching held at the Harvard Art Museums. The landscape is quite striking, but what's going on with the crumbled architecture in the upper left? How do you interpret this work? Curator: The crumbling structure is key; note the contrast between its decay and the active pastoral scene. Sysang's etching foregrounds the materials, process, and social context of both ruin and rural labor, blurring the lines between high art architecture and the craft of everyday life. Editor: So it's less about the beauty of the landscape and more about the labor involved and the materials used to create it? Curator: Precisely. It provokes us to consider the production of art itself. What materials were used, by whom, and for what purpose? Sysang makes us question the value we place on different forms of making. Editor: That gives me a whole new perspective on this piece. Thanks for illuminating that! Curator: A pleasure to consider Sysang's work through the lens of material production with you.