Plattegrond van een salon van het schip 'Grotius' c. 1906

Curator: This sketch, “Plattegrond van een salon van het schip ‘Grotius’”, made around 1906 by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, is on paper using pencil and ink. It reminds us of design blueprints. What grabs your attention about it? Editor: I'm intrigued by the casual nature of it. It’s just a quick sketch, not a polished presentation drawing, which feels very intimate. How can we interpret a simple drawing like this? Curator: I find myself focusing on the materiality and the process. Notice the quick, almost frantic, lines – they speak to the rapid idea generation. Consider the social context: Cachet was designing the interior of a ship. This isn’t just art for art's sake; it’s design work, responding to the very specific material needs and social realities of naval life. Editor: So, you're saying the drawing’s value comes from it showing design labor and intention? Curator: Exactly. We see the hand of the artist grappling with real-world constraints. The materials—pencil and paper—become tools in a broader process of production. The lines become a visualization of labor, an immediate translation of a mental image to paper. The sketchbook itself functions almost like a factory floor, in miniature. How might this change your perspective on ‘high’ art, and it’s remove from this labor? Editor: It really blurs that distinction. Thinking of it that way, this quick sketch actually carries a lot more weight than a finished piece might. I’m considering design in a very different light. Curator: Precisely, by engaging with these everyday items and sketches, we are considering design itself through the lens of work and process. Editor: Thank you, I'm thinking of this piece differently now, knowing more about the materiality and making of it. Curator: Me too! The idea of the sketchbook as a site of labor has really stuck with me.