Spotprent op de verkiezing te Deventer, 1873 1873

Editor: This is a fascinating print, titled "Spotprent op de verkiezing te Deventer, 1873" created in 1873 by Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans. It seems to be an engraving, maybe even a lithograph. It feels like a very pointed political commentary. What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: The material production of this image is crucial. This engraving wasn's created in a vacuum, but in a print shop. The artist, the engraver, the publisher – their collective labor brings this critique of the political process in Deventer to the public. The mass production via print enabled wide dissemination. Editor: That's interesting, to consider it as mass media of the time. So, how does that inform its meaning? Curator: Consider the context: newspapers as stones being thrown. This refers directly to political ousting by smear campaigns. How might the consumption of such imagery impact voters, swayed by potentially biased or manipulated narratives constructed and distributed through these very prints? What commentary might this say on the role of media in shaping public perception? Editor: It's a good reminder that even "objective" mediums can participate in shaping opinions. The stones as newspapers feels particularly resonant in today's digital age. Curator: Precisely! And that's what looking at materiality, medium, and manufacture allow for. They open up crucial insight into context and wider societal impact. Editor: I never really thought about how the printmaking process itself influenced its message so directly, but you are completely right! Curator: These kind of prints make you see political opinions and propaganda through the lens of materials.