Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1900 - 1908

This is a postcard to Philip Zilcken, likely from the late 19th century, by the Belgian writer, Georges Eekhoud. The visual field of the postcard is dominated by textual elements: printed address lines, handwritten cursive, and the superimposition of postal stamps. Notice how the script and the stamps create an interplay of textures, with the smoothness of the paper contrasting the roughness of ink. The composition adheres to a functional structure, typical for postal correspondence, yet the addition of handwriting introduces an element of personal expression. This interplay destabilizes the fixed, impersonal nature of standardized communication. Each mark, from the formal postal stamps to the informal script, acts as a signifier pointing to a network of social and institutional practices. Consider the act of writing itself, and the deliberate trace it leaves—a form of material expression that, in its imperfections and idiosyncrasies, resists the uniformity of mechanical reproduction. This tension between the handmade and the manufactured invites us to see the postcard as an early form of social media, carrying layers of meaning beyond its explicit message.