Bronze Horses, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy 1889

Editor: This is Joseph Smith's "Bronze Horses, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy." It seems to focus on the sculptural details. What strikes you about this particular depiction? Curator: Smith isolates the bronze horses, really drawing attention to their materiality. Consider the process: the original casting, the labor involved in their creation, and then Smith's labor in reproducing them here. Editor: So it's about more than just the horses themselves? Curator: Exactly. It's about the chain of production, the cultural value assigned to bronze, and how Smith's work further mediates that value through this image. What do you make of the choice of medium for *this* piece, versus the original? Editor: I hadn't thought about that, the layers of removal give me a lot to think about!