Mannen zijn bezig het water te geleiden 1727

Editor: This print, entitled "Mannen zijn bezig het water te geleiden," or "Men are busy managing the water," was created in 1727 by Bernard Picart. It seems to depict land surveyors using tools to measure… well, I suppose to manage the water, as the title suggests. What initially strikes me is how much detail he packs into a black and white engraving. What can you tell me about it? Curator: Well, from a materialist perspective, the first thing I notice is the labor embedded in the image itself. Look at the meticulousness required for such an engraving! Each line meticulously placed. It makes you consider the role of printmaking in disseminating knowledge about engineering and resource management during that time. The print, itself, becomes a tool, a piece of technology, no different in principle than the surveyor’s tools we see depicted. Editor: So you're saying that the medium is part of the message? How does the process itself add to the understanding? Curator: Precisely! Consider the social context: this image wasn't made for a gallery wall, but likely for circulation among engineers or those investing in such projects. It served a very practical function in demonstrating methods of control over nature, which was very in line with Enlightenment ideals. This isn’t some ethereal art object, but a piece of communication. What’s being bought, sold and consumed here isn’t simply ‘art’, but expertise, technological advancement. Notice, also, the figures presented – their social position inferred from their clothing – enacting this dance with landscape. The materials speak of control over the material world, both practically, and idealistically. Editor: I never really thought of engravings in terms of labour, but I now get it: it’s all about production, dissemination, and consumption! Curator: Absolutely. The engraving itself and the techniques the print depicts!