Colofon 1788

Curator: Here we have a page from "Colophon," created around 1788, by the famed Kitagawa Utamaro. It's currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Immediately, I'm struck by the blankness facing all that script—a certain serene imbalance. Editor: Imbalance is right. It’s like the page is longing for something more. The sharp strokes of ink against the aged paper definitely grab my attention; there’s an immediate story embedded in those characters, if I could only read it! I’m really drawn to the materiality of the paper. The way its surface feels almost soft against the rigidity of the text. Curator: It’s worth noting, the print is made using ink on paper. While Utamaro is famous for his vivid prints of beautiful women, this exemplifies a more functional aspect of Ukiyo-e. We see the text divided into sections, each meticulously labeled: 'bird,' 'beast,' 'fish'. These lists perhaps acted as a colophon, a printer's mark including a statement about its production and the people involved, similar to the production notes you’d find on the back page of a novel today. Editor: So interesting! I tend to see such lists of 'makers' or 'contributors' as deeply reflective of a system of artistic production in that time. It makes me wonder who “Kashiwaya Jūzaburō” really was in relation to Utamaro: client, owner, printer or craftsman? The material nature of the book, itself a mass produced or crafted, begs the question how the labour to create this may have changed from previous or newer forms. I am sure that the artist didn't hold such firm boundaries between those concepts. Curator: It invites a meditation on creative contribution, that’s for sure! To consider "the touch" needed. There is some elegance to its humble presentation, perhaps even a deliberate one given his more elaborate artworks elsewhere. A blank facing page as a rest to all its intent and industriousness, a breath to balance the depth of mark on the other. Editor: Yes! Maybe it is not really blank at all then; more a rest or negative form born of all of those intense lines in text. In that regard, I almost feel compelled to examine this colophon again to perhaps reconsider this whole artform. Curator: Reconsider... I am inclined to as well! There are whispers here—and they are, undeniably, quiet and profound.