Blad 73 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel I (1921-1929) Possibly 1928

This is page 73 from a register created in the 1920s for the Colonial School for Girls and Women in The Hague. These handwritten entries with their black and white passport photos—aren’t they just the most fascinating kind of mark-making? It’s all about the directness, the materiality of the ink pressed onto paper, and the careful looping script. I keep coming back to the way each entry becomes a little world, a self-contained unit of information and identity. Look at the fifth entry, with the signature, 'W. Kinney' It’s more of a scrawl really. The way the ink pools slightly, giving it a kind of shadow. It's hard to tell exactly which tool was used here, but I think the slight imperfections speak volumes. This page reminds me a little of the conceptual registers made by On Kawara, each artwork becoming a record of time, place and identity. Art's always a conversation, isn't it? And in this case, a beautiful reminder that meaning can be found in the most unexpected of places.