Berekeningen 1905 - 1906

This page of calculations was made by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet and lives at the Rijksmuseum. It looks like pencil on paper, and what strikes me is the openness of it. You can see the artist figuring things out, a mathematical process that’s very embodied. Look at the textures created by the graphite as it travels across the page, like a landscape. These numbers feel like someone thinking out loud. I love the idea of math as an art form in itself, a kind of poetry of numbers and measurements. It reminds me of the way some conceptual artists use instructions or systems to create their work. It also reminds me of the artist Hanne Darboven who used numbers and systems as a way to explore time and memory. The beauty of art lies in the way it embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.