Galon, zwart c. 1920

This is a length of black 'Galon' or braid, by Gustav Schnitzler, and it lives here at the Rijksmuseum. When I look at this braid, I think about the artist who made it. Did they dream of flowers, or did they dream of lines? I look at it and I see the possibility of both, like shapes emerging out of darkness. I imagine the artist carefully guiding the thread, looping and knotting with intention. It reminds me of the work of painters like Agnes Martin, who had this kind of obsessive repetition. I wonder if Schnitzler, like many artists, saw creation as a form of meditation. And how the smallest change in pressure or speed can totally alter the form. The subtle variations in each section create a kind of rhythm, a visual dance. I guess we are all kind of braiding, or binding things together as we work. It’s all a conversation anyway.