Tijl Uilenspiegel c. 1902

Editor: This is “Tijl Uilenspiegel” by Pellerin & Cie, circa 1902. It seems to be a comic strip, done as a print. It has a charmingly old-fashioned feel. What's your take on it? Curator: Look closely at the production. It’s mass-produced, intended for a wide audience. Consider how the printing process itself, this relatively cheap, repeatable technique, made these stories accessible. Does the material, the cheap paper stock, the offset printing – how do these materials influence how it was consumed? Editor: That’s a great point. So, it's not meant for an elite audience, but the common folk? Curator: Exactly! The imagery becomes intertwined with its distribution. Were these posters hung in public spaces, plastered on walls? Who would have been making these? We see no artist listed. Editor: Oh, that's right! It's attributed to "Pellerin & Cie". Was that a company then, producing these? Curator: Likely so! It tells us this wasn’t an individual "genius" artist, but factory output. The lack of preciousness in the materials reflects the social context, which must have affected our perception of this artwork as disposable, of less importance perhaps than a unique oil painting of the time. Editor: So you are saying that how it was made, and for whom, matters just as much as what's being depicted within the images? Curator: Precisely. Think about the labor, the means of production, the system within which this was created. It changes everything. Editor: This has really given me a new appreciation for prints and how their material production plays such a vital part in how art reaches its audience. Curator: Indeed! The physicality of the art object can really amplify its social resonance, challenging our typical aesthetic boundaries.