Brief aan Mien Cambier van Nooten

This is a letter to Mien Cambier van Nooten, created by Dick Ket in November of 1938. I think it's so cool how handwriting, in its own way, is a type of drawing. Look at the way the letters crowd each other, how the lines tilt and sway across the page. The ink almost seems to vibrate, doesn't it? It's like Ket is letting his thoughts spill out directly, unedited. You can almost feel the rhythm of his hand as he’s writing, the pressure and speed of each stroke. See that long looping 'B' at the top left? It's like a little dance right there on the page. Ket's work often has this raw, diaristic quality. It reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly, actually – that sense of impulsive mark-making and the feeling that the process of creation is just as important as the final image. Art isn't about perfection; it's about the energy and the messiness of life, right?