Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken before 1909

This Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken was created by Marie Metz-Koning. I’m struck by the postal marks, especially the stamps and their cancellations. Look how they overlap and interrupt the formal elements of the card, disrupting the order of the message. There's something beautiful about this casual destruction. I imagine Marie sending this card, her focused attention on communication mixed with an awareness of the materiality of the surface. I can imagine her carefully choosing a stamp, pressing it onto the paper, and then the blunt force of the cancellation mark. She's activating the surface. Painters often think about how to activate the surface of the canvas. How does one mark interrupt or add to another? Metz-Koning shows us that it’s all part of the conversation. What a generous act – to send a fragment of your thinking into the world. Artists are always learning from each other, remixing old gestures with new ideas.