Is Handwriting Analysis Still a Thing?

Is handwriting analysis still a thing? Is ‘penmanship’ a ‘lost art’? I have long marveled at the beautiful cursive script found in Civil War letters and diaries featured on Antiques Road Show and on Ken Burns's series. Earlier this year my lawyer in drafting my will took copious notes on a legal pad exactly like the one I am writing on now. I recently signed the modest document with a provided blue pen which made a authoritative scratchy noise, an appreciation both my lawyer and I shared. He offered me the pen which I accepted- he had tons. Later that day I performed with one finger an elongated double squiggle across a screen to purchase the pharmaceuticals and sleep aids that assist me in managing suburban life.

For my final issue as Image Editor for DIVISION/Review, I requested from new friends, old friends, and some in absentia to hand-write and photograph a brief statement, notation, or arrangement of words (sample?) on paper for publication online. My intention was to transform the page as art context into a tabular bulletin board or scrapbook. Most everyone invited contributed even if several printed texts managed to sneak in. In writing the short credits I realize that their total word count may be longer than the works themselves-very Conceptual Art. Thank you all. Special acknowledgement goes to Hannah Alderfer whose aesthetics, patience and nimble design skills guaranteed that every issue of DIVISION/Review projected its own unique character and was always thrilling to behold.

Tim Maul

05/27/23

Mac Adams us an important figure in Narrative and Installation Art whose last exhibition was at gb agency in Paris.

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) was a novelist, artist, occultist and gun aficionado.

Gina Maree De Naia is an artist and musician living in Seoul South Korea.

Jean Dupuy (1925-2021) was an artist and anagrammatist whose collective projects predate recent art world ‘Relational Aesthetics’ manifestations.

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