Weiße Struktur 1960

Gerhard von Graevenitz made this 'Weiße Struktur,' which translates as 'White Structure', by systematically making a grid of perforations in a white panel. The process seems almost mechanical, yet the density of the perforations fluctuates, as if the piece is breathing, or like data fading away on a screen. I like imagining the artist making each hole, one after the other, patiently creating this field of absences. What was he thinking while he was doing this? Was he trying to systematize something? Or surrender to a kind of flow state? Looking at this piece, I'm reminded of the work of Agnes Martin, who also used grids and repetition to create a sense of calm and meditation. But where Martin's lines are soft and hand-drawn, Graevenitz's perforations are precise and machine-like. It shows how artists across time are always pushing each other, responding to one another, trying new things with similar ideas. Painting, or whatever form of making you want to call this, is such an ongoing conversation, where new possibilities are always being discovered.