Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1914

Curator: Charles van Wijk created this, "Brief aan Philip Zilcken," likely in 1914. It's ink on paper, a rather unassuming little drawing, wouldn't you say? Editor: Unassuming perhaps in its scale, but not in impact. There's an energy to this piece. The tight, almost frantic script suggests a mind overflowing with thoughts, emotions maybe. Curator: It is a letter, after all, so that density you're picking up is likely a stream of consciousness directed toward its recipient, Philip Zilcken. I am fascinated by the visual encoding. Editor: What grabs me are those densely packed lines, they feel less like simple handwriting and more like a kind of abstract mark-making, a kind of self portrait told with obsessive lettering. Notice the visual weight, the symbols... even if you can't read Dutch, there is something raw. It suggests haste but also deliberation, a careful construction using words as graphic elements. Curator: A dance of control and impulsivity perhaps. Considering the date, just before the outbreak of the First World War, I wonder if that historical tension isn't somehow mirrored in the work. It is after all communication between at least two minds—encoding, decoding, potential misinterpretation... and who would be around to see these missives and to what degree is something actually *said*. It is, also, an intimate glimpse into the artist's inner world—not unlike peeking inside a diary, a portal, no? Editor: Absolutely. These markings carry emotional residue and tell tales of the sender even though only select marks can be interpreted. And there is a universal aspect here too—we see written correspondence become more rarified and this brings on a sense of deep humanity for that reason. A window into the artistic soul... and maybe our own desire for expression and to leave some record of being here behind. Curator: You've made me think about memory, cultural memory held within visual forms... Editor: That’s how the visual language stays vibrant.