A Hillside. Schematic Sky with ?Flashes of Lightning 

Editor: This is "A Hillside. Schematic Sky with ?Flashes of Lightning" by Alexander Cozens. It's undated, but Cozens lived in the 18th century. I'm struck by how abstract it is; it looks like a landscape, but also like a coded message. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It speaks to the Enlightenment's project of categorizing and controlling nature. The grid-like structure and schematic representation of the sky can be interpreted as a reflection of the period's impulse to contain and understand the world through rational systems. How do you think that relates to contemporary issues of environmental control? Editor: I guess it makes me think about how we still try to control nature, like with geoengineering. Curator: Exactly. And perhaps Cozens is questioning that very impulse, revealing the inherent artificiality in our attempts to dominate the natural world. Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way. It definitely gives me a new perspective! Curator: It highlights how art can illuminate the historical roots of contemporary power dynamics.