God Gravity (Detail) 2015

Curator: Saul Zanolari’s “God Gravity (Detail),” created in 2015, is a… well, it's quite a piece. The artist’s statement says mixed media, but it almost appears digitally rendered, doesn’t it? I can't help but focus on this…constructed scene. What grabs your attention in this piece? Editor: It feels both familiar and unsettling. The poses of the figures remind me of Renaissance paintings, yet there's this bizarre, almost science-fiction quality. How do you interpret it? Curator: Right. Consider the "mixed media" tag. The digital tools mimic oil paint's rendering of flesh, but they're still simulations. What labour went into *making* this image? Hours spent modelling forms, tweaking textures within design software rather than manipulating clay, casting a figure, or mixing pigments. Editor: So you’re suggesting that the medium itself challenges traditional notions of artistic skill? Curator: Precisely. This “fantasy art” – it raises questions about what art production means in an age where digital craftsmanship becomes increasingly accessible. Is Zanolari highlighting how materials themselves are changing what an artist *does*? This references classic nude figures of renaissance but what's at stake for modern bodies or representations of the nude in today's society? Is this still ‘fine art’ if its materials are entirely virtual, challenging our usual understanding of object-based, handcrafted sculptures? Editor: I see, so it’s about how the work asks us to rethink the artist’s labour, the changing artistic resources. It brings an old master vision to modern resources. Curator: Exactly. The digital art tools now mediate traditional images. The work makes you ask *what is art?* It is art with labour put in, but without traditionally valued methods and techniques. How do digital tools shift our understanding of "fine art" versus…something else? Editor: This really broadened how I look at it. Now I see how profoundly medium matters! Curator: Indeed! It highlights the intersection of technology, artmaking, and our evolving perception of art’s very definition.