On first encounÂterÂing Antoni JaĹĽwiĹ„ski’s “PolÂish SysÂtem,” I couldÂn’t help but think of Incan Quipu, the sysÂtem that used knotÂted cords to keep offiÂcial records. Like Quipu, JaĹĽwiĹ„ski’s sysÂtem of colÂored squares relies on an extreme shortÂhand to tell comÂplex stoÂries with mnemonÂic devices. But maybe that’s where the simÂiÂlarÂiÂties end. JaĹĽwiĹ„ski’s invenÂtion (cirÂca (1820) does not so much resemÂble othÂer forms of comÂmuÂniÂcaÂtion as it does the abstract art of the folÂlowÂing cenÂtuÂry.
“JaĹĽwiĹ„ski’s MĂ©thÂode polonÂaise promisÂes that the comÂplexÂiÂties of cenÂturies can be refined into colÂors, lines, squares, and just a few marks,” writes PhilipÂpa Pitts at Sequitur. “NeatÂly arranged into a diaÂgram that can be diliÂgentÂly comÂmitÂted to memÂoÂry, the twists and turns of batÂtles and revÂoÂluÂtions are renÂdered as panes of pure genÂtle colÂor, quiÂetÂly plotÂted as coorÂdiÂnates in a matrix, subÂsumed back into the orderÂly progress of hisÂtoÂry.”
His attempts to impose order on life may have come to litÂtle in the end, but as an artiÂfact of visuÂal culÂture, the “PolÂish SysÂtem” is subÂlime. Pitts goes on to write:
There is a wonÂderÂful resÂoÂnance between JaĹĽwiĹ„ski’s chronoÂgraphs and a wide range of artisÂtic proÂducÂtion, despite the anachroÂnism of such comÂparÂisons. They recall Piet Mondrian’s earÂly checkerÂboards and Robert Delaunay’s simulÂtaneÂity. There is someÂthing remÂiÂnisÂcent of process art here: They evoke the repetÂiÂtive, catÂaÂloguÂing handÂwork of Hanne DarÂboven or Agnes MarÂtin. There appears to be a comÂmon calm, comÂfort, catharÂsis, or salÂvaÂtion promised by the embrace of rule, order, and logÂic.
JaĹĽwiĹ„sÂki, a PolÂish eduÂcaÂtor, inventÂed the sysÂtem in the 1820s. It was “latÂer brought to pubÂlic attenÂtion in the 1830s and 1840s by GenÂerÂal JĂłzef Bem, a milÂiÂtary engiÂneer with a penÂchant for mnemonÂics,” notes the PubÂlic Domain Review. Such sysÂtems cropped up everyÂwhere in 19th-cenÂtuÂry eduÂcaÂtion, such as those pioÂneered by Emma Willard, the first woman mapÂmakÂer in the U.S. “JaĹĽwiĹ„ski’s conÂtriÂbuÂtion (and its latÂer adapÂtaÂtions) proved one of the most popÂuÂlar.”
He explained his sysÂtem with long paraÂgraphs of text (which you can read here, in French), litÂtle of which stuÂdents were likeÂly to rememÂber. What matÂtered was whether they could make sense of the colÂor-codÂing and symÂbols placed inside the grid sysÂtem, with each grid standÂing for an entire cenÂtuÂry — 100 years of human hisÂtoÂry reduced, for examÂple, in the figÂure above, to one name, ConÂstanÂtine the Great, and two symÂbols, a sword and cross. This was an examÂple of a “chronoÂlogÂiÂcal conÂstelÂlaÂtion,” in which hisÂtorÂiÂcal events take parÂticÂuÂlar shapes, “someÂtimes it’s a chair,” JaĹĽwiĹ„sÂki wrote, “a sickÂle, a boat, a letÂter of the alphaÂbet, etc.”
Even the names neatÂly printÂed above the grids are redunÂdant, Pitts sugÂgests. In such sysÂtems, called chronoÂgraphs, “denoÂtaÂtive text is of limÂitÂed use. It is conÂnoÂtaÂtive visuÂalÂiÂty which furÂther conÂdensÂes the inforÂmaÂtion: Flags, shields, and insignia can serve as shortÂhand for nations and dynasÂties, while loomÂing storm clouds, bright sunÂbursts, and invoÂcaÂtions of clasÂsiÂcal archiÂtecÂture add layÂers of assoÂciÂatÂed meanÂing.” The view of hisÂtoÂry repÂreÂsentÂed by such sysÂtems is quaint, at best; their overÂsimÂpliÂfiÂcaÂtions erase more than they could ever comÂmuÂniÂcate. But their visuÂal appeal is undeÂniÂable as objects from a pre-Google past, when memÂoÂrizaÂtion was the only way to reliÂably store and access knowlÂedge outÂside of books.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Josh Jones is a writer and musiÂcian based in Durham, NC. FolÂlow him at @jdmagness