Fotoalbum bij het afscheid van Eugen Wachenheimer als directeur van het filiaal van de Deutsche Bank in Sofia, 1928 1928

Here we see a photograph album that was created in 1928 to mark Eugen Wachenheimer’s departure from the Deutsche Bank in Sofia. It’s an object of commemoration, using ornamentation as a kind of language. The album cover has these ornate details – a central almond shape defined in ochre with a vibrant green lozenge at its heart. The surrounding area is a muted blue-gray, and it’s all framed with layers of decorative borders in red and gold. It’s about as far away from the monochrome, utilitarian aesthetic of banking as you can possibly get! Look closely, and you'll see that the album is tied together with simple twine. It’s the kind of material that’s so humble, so ordinary, that it just fades into the background. It's easy to overlook, but that's what makes it so great. That twine reminds me of Rosemarie Trockel, and the way she used wool to make these strange knitted paintings. On the one hand, the twine is the most important thing about the album – without it, the whole thing would fall apart. But it’s also something that anyone could find and use. Art, like life, is full of these strange contradictions.