Jagt-Spel 1864 - 1884

This is "Jagt-Spel", a board game created by weduwe Elias Spanier & Zn, and now held at the Rijksmuseum. The dominant visual element here is the cyclical composition. An oval track, patterned with alternating yellow and red segments, creates a circular narrative. The artist plays with semiotics, employing images of foxes, hares, and hounds as signs within this game of pursuit. The central image grounds the game in a naturalistic scene, filled with horses and dogs. The game's structure is a commentary on societal roles, framed within rules. Each space on the track is numbered, structuring the progress of the game. There is tension between the game’s colorful surface, and its implications of social hierarchies and natural order. The cyclical form suggests an endless loop, a reflection on the repetitive nature of such pursuits. It's an open system of symbolic meanings, one in which we participate as players and interpreters.