Hanne Darboven’s (b. 1941; d. 2009) Hommage an meinen Vater (1988) is a monumental installation formed from hundreds of handwritten sheets, each meticulously inscribed with numbers, dates, and looping script. The work establishes a steady rhythm of notation that unfolds across the room like a temporal instrument, translating time into visual structure. In this sustained act of writing, Darboven creates a framework through which mourning and remembrance accumulate gradually, page by page. The installation functions as both an archive of days and an extended gesture of devotion, allowing the passage of time to become visible through disciplined repetition.
The internal architecture of Hommage an meinen Vater reveals Darboven’s capacity to merge conceptual precision with emotional depth. The sheets build a spatial environment encountered through movement and duration. As the viewer follows the work across the wall, the repetition begins to register as a pulse, a trace of ongoing commitment. Each page carries the same system, yet the system intensifies through accumulation, gaining resonance through its sheer persistence. The work transforms private memory into sustained labour, treating handwriting as a vessel capable of holding both personal and temporal weight.