Overlijdensbericht aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1902 - 1914

This announcement of death to Philip Zilcken, well, it’s not a painting in the traditional sense, but I think of it as a painting nonetheless; a monochrome work made in 1902 with ink on cardstock, where the dark ink is pressed into the paper and becomes the image itself. I imagine the person carefully setting the type, each letter a deliberate mark. I’m thinking of my friend, Paul Chan, and his project printing and distributing the writings of radical thinkers. It’s like he’s asking, “How can art intervene in the real world?” I wonder if this announcement to Zilcken was distributed widely? Did it circulate among friends and family, each recipient feeling the weight of its message? The elegant typeface and formal language are so restrained, yet they speak volumes about loss and remembrance. It makes me think about how artists, whether they’re using paint or print, are always in conversation with each other, riffing on themes of life, death, and everything in between. It’s an ongoing exchange of ideas, inspiring creativity across time.