Tidstavle over H.C. Andersens liv 1866-1844 1930 - 1938

This is a page from a diary, created by Niels Larsen Stevns, sometime between 1866 and 1941. I'm interested in the way Stevns uses the page, not just as a place to record information, but as a space for something else, something more expansive, more like artmaking. The page is full of handwritten notes in Danish, listing dates and places. The ink is dark and consistent, but the handwriting itself is quite free and expressive. The marks are confident, with a real sense of flow, like he's enjoying the act of writing. I'm drawn to the way the lines of text curve and weave across the page, creating a rhythm, a visual texture almost. Notice how the letters lean and loop, creating a kind of dance. For me, this feels connected to the work of Cy Twombly. Although Stevns is working with text and Twombly with abstraction, both artists share a similar sensibility. I'm struck by their shared interest in process, in the act of making as a way of thinking and feeling.