Seehafen mit Schiffen, rechts ein großer Felsen 

Editor: Here we have "Seehafen mit Schiffen, rechts ein grosser Felsen," a pen and ink drawing by Jacques Callot. It feels very detailed and expansive, even though it's a relatively small sketch. What catches your eye about it? Curator: I'm drawn to the interplay between the constructed environment of the harbor and the raw materiality of the rock formation. Look at the marks made to depict it – rapid, repetitive, almost crude in contrast to the fine lines of the city. What labor went into quarrying that stone, shaping the harbor, building those ships? Editor: So you're thinking about the human effort that went into the scene? Curator: Exactly. And consider the pen itself, the ink. These were also manufactured, traded, commodities of their time. Callot's skill translates these materials, this labor, into an image, but the underlying materiality remains present. Does the scene evoke anything specific about labour for you? Editor: Well, looking at the city and all those ships, it makes me think of commerce, of course. But also, I wonder who built those structures, or who sailed those ships. What would their daily lives have been like? Curator: Precisely. And by choosing to depict this scene, Callot participates in a system where landscapes and cityscapes were consumed as images. It allows a kind of ownership, wouldn’t you say? Editor: It's interesting to think of art-making as being another type of work, alongside everything else depicted in the image. Curator: Indeed. Reflecting on the material aspects of art production encourages us to view art as a product of social and economic conditions, as well as aesthetic choices. Editor: That gives me a lot to think about, seeing how the actual materials and the way an artist works are just as important as what's depicted.