Blank 1864 - 1941

Editor: Here we have *Blank* by Niels Larsen Stevns, dating from 1864 to 1941. It seems to be a drawing on paper, housed here at the SMK. What strikes me is...well, the blankness. The emptiness. How can something so apparently devoid of content be art? What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, but isn't emptiness itself a profound statement? Niels Larsen Stevns gives us this wide expanse, an invitation. I sense potential here. The subtle grain of the paper whispers possibilities... imagine all the untold stories held within those fibres! What will you write on these blank pages of paper and the journey? Editor: So, it's not about what's *there*, but what *could be* there? I never thought about it that way. Like the world, and life are our art? Curator: Precisely! We often rush to fill every void, every silence, every page! I think, Stevns gifts us a rare moment of pure, unadulterated potential. It’s a challenge, really. A reminder that creation begins with that very first, brave stroke, the bravery and the madness of an idea. And also we often have the fear to create a new reality, that isn't known or controlled...What scares us more? The unknown or what we can know about ourselves? Editor: That's so interesting, all of a sudden my perspective has flipped from boredom to total engagement! To have nothing, brings everything into life... It's been a journey of artistic creation inside our brains, and what about inside you? Curator: Indeed! Thank you for allowing me to wonder what makes me to continue with everything or nothing! To contemplate art is a trip that we take into ourselves without the worry that someone can come after us, do you agree?