Nominatieve zamenstelling van het Korps Jagers van VAN DAM 1868

This is a page from a 19th-century document, created with paper and ink. It’s a nominal list of the Corps of Hunters of Van Dam, a military unit. But let’s think about what this seemingly straightforward piece of information actually represents. Paper, as a material, has long been associated with bureaucracy, with the exercise of power through documentation. The neat columns of names, carefully typeset, speak to the regimentation of military life, the reduction of individuals to units within a larger structure. Each name represents a person, but here they are primarily signifiers within a system. Consider also the labor involved: from the harvesting of raw materials for the paper, to its manufacture, to the work of the typesetter and printer. All this effort, distilled into a simple list. In the end, this document isn't just about names; it's a material record of a specific time, place, and set of social relations, made visible through the lens of materials and making.