Fringe c. 20th century

This undated artwork called "Fringe" was made by an anonymous artist. I wonder what the artist was thinking when they were making this, what it was like for them to sit with these materials. This piece isn't paint, but I can still imagine the artist carefully choosing the order of colours: white, red, pink, navy, and gold all line up in a neat and orderly way. Each colour is cut into rectangles that sit on top of a red and brown band. Look how each strand comes together, bound as a single, thick mark: it’s a painting made from thread! It makes me think about the conversations artists have. We work alone a lot, but actually, there are paintings from the past that I feel like I’m responding to. "Fringe" has an improvisational feel, echoing a kind of syncopation that painters create in their abstract marks. It embraces chance, like the artist is riffing and trying to find the tune.