Erasmic 1912

Curator: Here we have Jean d'Ylen’s "Erasmic" poster from 1912. The initial impression is quite dreamlike. What stands out to you first? Editor: It's so buoyant and tactile. The surface almost feels wet and slick to the touch, even though it's just a poster. The color choices and simplified lines definitely evoke that feeling. I'm also struck by the seemingly effortless production of posters like these; so many were produced and consumed. Curator: Absolutely. The dreamlike quality also emerges through the figure in a bubble. Visually, bubbles can symbolize fragility and transience, while water has rich symbolic associations. How does it make you feel? Editor: I agree about that the choice of water can be so significant, given its material properties but the combination here, a beautiful woman emerging from what reads to me a soap bubble. I think it works as advertisement through associations with hygiene, beauty and fleeting moments. What do you think? Curator: That is what I find amazing about symbolism. From a mythological and psychoanalytic point of view, the bubble offers a protective space, like a womb almost. In that era we were just getting new understanding of sanitation through clean practices, which has made it into our modern collective psyche, I feel. Editor: It’s remarkable to consider the layered connotations in an advertisement of all places. And it invites to consider the materiality in mass printing to sell us those ephemeral impressions of feminine beauty through fragile bubbles. Curator: Right, it prompts me to explore that moment in history when personal care took center stage—and now looking through different lenses offers insight to consumerism. Editor: Precisely. Thanks for this reading. It has given me food for thought about labor and commercial intentions in advertising!