Studio Visit: Jeannine Platz

“I’m a sensory type of person,” says Jeannine Platz at the start of our conversation, probably because she’d prefer us to meet for real rather than on Zoom. Jeannine is the kind of woman you really do need to meet face to face: full of positivity and laughter, she approaches the world with open eyes; and when you get to see her art and calligraphy, you realise she speaks through everything she does. So, with Jeannine, it’s definitely: make sure you meet her in person!

SLEEK: Jeannine, your job is handwriting. And yet handwriting is increasingly disappearing from our everyday lives. Is that something you’re conscious of?

Jeannine Platz: I’m very aware of how much what I create is appreciated, and that people’s appreciation is growing all the time. I really do tell people how beautiful and unique our handwriting is. Handwriting is fascinating. It says so much about a person. Writing is a part of me, my fingerprint, and I find it really heart-warming to watch someone write. I don’t think about handwriting disappearing all that much because my focus is more on how valuable it is.

S: Isn’t handwriting even more valuable precisely because we are seeing less and less of it?

JP: Yes, exactly. I’m a fundamentally active person, so I like to encourage people to write in whatever way I can. When the kids text me a shopping list, I say, “Hey, wait a minute!” To me, writing isn’t necessarily something you do on paper: I sometimes write shopping lists on my hand or arm or using whatever is to hand at that moment.

S: Such as …?

JP: A goose quill, maybe, or a piece of wood. Whatever’s just lying around the place. I’m just really experimental, and that’s exactly what I convey because that’s when I push boundaries (laughs). Honestly, I write all over everything!

S: Let me rewind for a moment. Do you remember at what point you decided writing was for you?

JP: Actually, it was before I’d even started school. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but when everyone else went off on their summer holidays, I would be writing comics. Whenever I needed to remember something, I would write it down. And then, 20 years ago, an agency in Hamburg discovered me.

S: Handwriting is also something that triggers deep-seated emotions, isn’t it? We transmit our ideas by writing them in words, sketching them or expressing ourselves in some other way. I’m pretty sure everyone has a personal story around their handwriting. Do you think that might be why something like a postcard can often trigger such an emotional reaction?

JP: Writing is something highly personal, and the act of writing is quite sensuous. The way the pen scratches on the paper, the blobs, your choice of writing implement, all of these things affect the senses. And the moment when we write is always unique, no matter what comes out of it. What makes it so unique is the fact that you are translating the dynamic of a moment into a hand movement like that.

S: I think that’s an insight that applies to all sorts of things: it’s simply about accepting the uniqueness of a moment. That’s all …

JP: Exactly! I love to work when everyone else has gone to bed, when everything is quiet. I work in an almost meditative state, with my whole body, not just from my wrist. The Japanese talk about ‘exhaling’ letters, and if you observe yourself for a moment, you can really see that happening. Everything is in flux with European calligraphy too.

S: So, being in an archive or an antiquarian bookshop must be an absolute joy for you!

JP: I have a book called Ich an Dich (‘me to you’) based entirely on the life stories of two people, which are all written down on paper. The book just ‘lives’ from their handwriting, and you can read their every emotion. It’s my favourite book and incredibly important to me as a person.

S: … which brings us back to postcards and to how great it is to receive one.

JP: Yes, and that moment of delight happens every time, regardless of what the card actually says.

S: Your calligraphy happens in certain spaces, yet flows into your overall work as an artist.

JP: I need contrasts. If I’ve just done 500 pieces of very delicate work, I automatically feel the need to write on something big. And that can be whatever I clap eyes on (laughs).

S: And what kind of thing do you clap eyes in a moment like that?

JP: If I know there’s an empty room, it will be all the walls, the ceiling – I’ll write all over them. I always work in the moment. So, if something wants to come out of me, I let it out, whether it’s by writing in sand, on a concrete wall in my street, a shipping container, or even a person (laughs).

S: Speaking of containers, would you like to tell us about your latest creation?

JP: I’d love to. I’ve always wanted to paint on a shipping container. Twelve-and-a-half metres of space is so tempting! And I also have a personal link to containers because I’ve travelled by ship a lot. During lockdown, they became my focal point. There was nothing else left, but the ships were still sailing. So it was the perfect moment to send out a message. A few years ago, I asked a captain why he enjoyed sailing so much, and he said, “When you dip a finger in the ocean, it connects you with the entire world.” That sentence stuck in my mind, and so I enquired with Hamburg Süd and they gave me a shipping container to write and paint on. It all happened really quickly. And exactly 17 months ago, my container went off on its travels, to all five continents. What’s more, they always positioned it on the outside so people could see it. It’s back now and standing outside the front of the Maritime Museum. It’s up for auction in aid of the International Seamen’s Mission.

S: I’d like to thank you for that idea because it’s a great example of what I believe in: offering stories as examples of what we ourselves can contribute, and the fact that there’s no limit to our strengths or what we can set in motion.

JP: Thank you. I’m not very patient, actually, so when I have an idea, I like to get stuck into it straight away. But sometimes you really have to hold out and persist. Sometimes I just get this feeling of being driven by something and I get started, but then I notice the same thing affects a whole lot of other people too. I once painted some words onto a wall at a beach in Hamburg, and then lots of other people added their words to it, too. In the end the entire wall was covered. It wasn’t something I’d planned, it just turned out that way. I followed an impulse.

S: To me, that’s nearly always what it’s about: having the courage to reveal something authentic, our real selves, how we feel at that particular moment. And I think people can sense that immediately. They can feel it.

JP: It’s the same with our handwriting (laughs). With me, it’s always about connection because, to me, connection carries such deep meaning. I’m always thrilled and privileged to experience connection of any kind.

Discover more of Jeannine’s work on @jeannine_platz or at Jeannine-Platz.de.

Published in SLEEK 71 – POWER. Get your Print or Digital copy now.