Skizzenbuch 1826

Here we see a sketchbook by Johannes Thomas, from around the late 18th to early 19th century. The immediate visual impression is one of texture and pattern. The cover features a marbled design in varying shades of brown, creating a sense of depth and organic complexity. An oval label is placed centrally on the cover. The marbling effect, achieved through the manipulation of pigments on a fluid surface, introduces an element of chance, mirroring the unpredictable nature of artistic exploration within. The blank label can be interpreted as an open signifier, awaiting definition. It posits the sketchbook not as a finished product but as a space of becoming, a site of potential inscriptions. Considered in relation to semiotics, the cover can be viewed as a system of signs. The brown marbling speaks to the earthiness and physicality of artistic materials, while the oval beckons towards the artistic process. In its entirety, the object functions as a precursor, pregnant with the possibility of form.