Forms to Preserve Concepts, 2026

I still have a few books from my school days.
They’re old and there are lots of underlined passages.
There’s a colour-coded hierarchy. The text is underlined in pencil, with a yellow and with a blue highlighter. Some words are marked in pink, others in orange.

On the first few pages of my books, I used a ruler to underline; later, I just used my hand. The lines become irregular.
It’s interesting to see in the underlining what I considered most important, and to realise as an adult what I actually learnt, what I’ve forgotten and what I didn’t underline.
These lines reveal my determination to learn.

I have observed current learning methods amongst primary school pupils in Berlin.
As computers are increasingly used for learning, comments and markings are made in standard formats. The gestures, autonomy and uniqueness of each child’s expression are lost and are limited to the possibilities offered by a keyboard. However, alongside the use of computers, some children also learn through photocopies and workbooks. Here, they have the opportunity to underline, highlight and draw freely.