Tremolo 1962

Agnes Martin made this untitled grid drawing, using ink on paper, sometime during her lifetime. Look at how the vertical lines have a sort of shimmer to them; they’re so close together, and there’s just enough variation in their weight and the space between them, that the whole thing seems to vibrate. The title “Tremolo” is spot on, right? It’s like a visual chord that keeps almost repeating, but never quite lands. There’s something so bodily about it, like a feeling of being on the verge of something. I love how the ruled lines are softened by her hand; you can feel the push and pull of control and chance. Look closely, you can see the graphite under-drawing, how the grid is ever so slightly off. It’s a testament to the imperfect, human process behind even the most seemingly rigid systems. Martin’s work always reminds me a bit of Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings, but where he’s all about the cool, conceptual system, she’s bringing the warmth and breath of the human hand. It's in that tension between the idea and the execution that the magic happens.