Studier af ribbehvælv, muligvis Saltum kirke 1906 - 1910

Niels Larsen Stevns made this pencil drawing of rib vaults, possibly in Saltum Church, sometime in his life. I love that he’s working out the geometry of these arches, mapping their meeting points, trying to work out how they hold up the whole building. Look at the physical qualities of this sketch; the pencil is thin and grey, a lot of the lines are tentative, and there’s a real sense of process and searching. There's this amazing star shape right at the top, where all the ribs meet. It's not perfect, a bit wobbly, and really communicates the essence of this place and the energy that must have been involved in making it. You can see this kind of exploration in the work of other artists, like Sol Lewitt, who also used systematic drawing as a means of generating visual form, of working through all the possibilities. Ultimately, this drawing shows us that art isn't about perfect answers, but about continuing the conversation.