Rol met wit lint met één gerafelde zijde en drie zwarte horizontale strepen c. 1930

This is a roll of white ribbon with a frayed edge and three horizontal black stripes, made by Gustav Schnitzler. What I see here is the art of containment. The roll, like a little world, holds its ten meters of potential. The ribbon itself is humble, the white muted, almost aged. Then, those three black stripes arrive like a minimalist painting on a grand scale. I want to touch it, feel the weave, see how the black sits on the white. Is it printed on, or woven in? This is about texture and touch as much as sight. That little label stuck on top; the information scrawled on it; it's like a tiny abstract expressionist painting, the gesture hidden in the everyday. It reminds me of Hanne Darboven’s work, which is full of repetitive and serial elements, but somehow becomes deeply personal. It makes you think about what we value and how we see.