「Look at the Picture and Talk about the Painting」Irma Blank’s Art of Line Writing

Repeating the writing process on paper, drawing lines that are closely arranged or in a zigzag pattern – isn’t this a diary? And isn’t this also art? When writing is no longer just a visual symbol, Blank creates meditative, quiet works through controversial writing. In the quiet night, the subtle sounds of the pen and paper rubbing against each other break the single-dimensional vision. She simulates the text with closely spaced zigzag lines and integrates the audible friction sounds of writing into the visuals, making the work a container for the senses.

Each line corresponds to a period of breathing, transforming the instantaneous rhythm of life into a visible, eternal trajectory. These lines are the development of time, breathing connecting the journey of life, laughter and tears, mistakes and truth, all depicted within it, until “life coincides with the marks”.

Blank uses perceptual fusion to break the barrier between art and life, transforming the act of writing from the expression of words to an artistic form that conveys life experiences. This prompts us to ponder: when lines become the marks that record the course of life, can we, by gazing at the works, understand our own temporal trajectory?