Plattegrond van Oostende c. 1700 - 1710

Editor: So this print, "Plattegrond van Oostende," created anonymously around 1700-1710, is an engraving depicting a cityscape. It looks very geometric and precise. What do you see in terms of how it reflects the historical and cultural context through its materiality and process? Curator: What strikes me immediately is the method of production itself. Engraving, as a technique, demands a certain precision and control over the material – in this case, likely a copper plate. Consider the labor involved, the skill needed to render this complex city plan. The very act of engraving, cutting into the metal, is a forceful, deliberate act of creation and record keeping. Doesn't the depiction of the city also emphasize production? Editor: That’s true, it's like a document of the time. How the city itself might have been seen as this engine of production and also a result of the time, not necessarily trying to represent the artistic value as just the reality, as opposed to a landscape for example. Curator: Exactly! Look at the walls surrounding the city, each hatch mark a conscious decision. These aren’t just lines on paper; they represent physical fortifications, societal power, and access to it. The map provides us with not just a view of a city, but a detailed record of labor, production and a particular point in time. What implications might this have? Editor: It really shifts my thinking away from just aesthetic appreciation to understanding it as a produced object embedded within a larger system of labor and control. I was caught up at first thinking how neatly it was engraved, as a print, but it's much more about labor than fine art. Curator: Precisely! Understanding the production helps us understand the society from which it originated and provides context for the city.