OBS-MEA-DAR-001
Hanne Darboven — Numerical Writing Systems
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Notation as Time Grid
OBS-MEA-DAR-001
Systems of Clarity

Notation organizes time

Hanne Darboven — Numerical Writing Systems

In Hanne Darboven’s numerical writing systems, time is encountered not as flow,
but as a field of recorded units.


Time is structured through repeated notation.
Units are recorded rather than illustrated.
The system advances through daily accumulation.
Structure does not depend on variation.
It depends on consistency.
What holds is time rendered as an administrative grid.

What stabilizes duration?
Time often flows. Here it is recorded. Each entry follows a rule. Difference does not disrupt order. Accumulation replaces expression. What holds is duration stabilized through notation.

Time often flows.
Here it is recorded.

Each entry follows a rule.

Difference does not disrupt order.

Accumulation replaces expression.

What holds is duration stabilized through notation.

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