Blad 72 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel I (1921-1929) Possibly 1928

This open book spread was made in the 1920’s, it’s a kind of ledger, maybe made with ink, paper, and photographs, and something like an early photocopier. I’m taken by the handwritten entries, they are all so unique, each one a little performance of the hand. I wonder who these people were, these colonial schoolgirls, and what their days were like. Each entry feels like a little world unto itself, complete with signatures and tiny passport photos. I find myself wondering, did they know each other, what were their personalities? The whole thing feels like a massive art project, so formal and rigid, but so filled with human energy. Agnes Martin also used grids and ruled lines, but to totally different ends; her work aimed for some sort of spiritual perfection through the repetition of these basic forms. This anonymous maker instead invites chance through their own mark making. The whole book becomes a kind of collaboration, between an unknown number of participants.