I Am, Here I Am
Barbara Casavecchia, frieze
June 2017
Barbara Casavecchia: Your earliest works from the series ‘Eigenschriften’ (Self-Writing, 1968–73), were created in response to your move from northern Germany, where you were born, to Syracuse in Sicily. Can you describe how these ’asemic writings’ (similar in form to handwriting but meaningless and unreadable) came about?
Irma Blank: When you arrive in a foreign country and you’re no longer surrounded by your native language, you’re unable to express yourself to the people you met, so writing is a kind of escape.