Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 40 c. 1884 - 1891

Editor: So, here we have Willem Witsen's "Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 40," dating from around 1884 to 1891. It's a chalk drawing on paper, almost abstract in its haziness. What immediately strikes me is its ephemerality; it looks like a memory fading away. What do you see in this piece? Curator: That sense of fading is key, I think. Consider 'Abklatsch', a transfer or rubbing. This image *is* a memory, not just depicting one. It's born of touch, pressure, an almost violent intimacy between surfaces. Doesn't it remind you of burial shrouds? What kind of emotion do you think is buried within the veil? Editor: That's a striking thought! I was focusing on the lack of detail, the vagueness, but thinking about it as a physical transfer changes everything. I still find it hard to find meaning behind such an absence. Curator: Absence *is* the meaning, or a vessel for it. Witsen uses frottage technique and various mediums to translate textures that carry certain affects, connecting memory, feeling, and place. Maybe not *what* is being depicted matters less than *how* that subject impresses itself upon our consciousness. What histories, personal or cultural, might this 'absence' evoke for you? Editor: I guess that makes sense. Seeing it as an imprint, something directly touched and transferred, makes it far more evocative than just a landscape drawing. Curator: Exactly. We tend to forget the labor of translating one surface onto another. Editor: I see. Thanks! I'll definitely remember the idea of art-making as translation and transfer when I'm considering abstract images. Curator: And hopefully contemplate what histories and symbolisms may be evoked.