Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Molla_ET_ALgorithm

Instructions:

1. Take as many pushpins as there are letters in your first name.
2. On the canvas, place a pin under each letter of your name. You can place the pins anywhere along the vertical line corresponding to each letter.
3. Take the string provided and tie the end to the pin representing the first letter of your name. Tie the string as close to the board as you can.
4. Connect all the pins representing your name in the order your name is spelled making one loop around each pin as you go.
5. Make a knot around the last pin as you did around your first pin.
6. Cut off the remaining string, leaving minimum amount of loose string.
7. You can not use any pins or strings already on the canvas.
8. Your string can not touch the pins that others placed in the canvas.
9. You can make loops only around the pins that you placed on the canvas.
10. Your string can cross and touch the string of other students.


This project yielded a unique and interesting piece of artwork. Setting the rules, complex and interesting forms were expected, which was the outcome. The project was imagined only in 2D, but the final outcome had a third dimension. As the numbers of lines increased the strings crossed more and more of the existing strings and their level rose significantly in some parts of the canvas. This gave the canvas a third dimension and a variety of string heigts. This can be seen in elevation but also is expressed in the shadow of each string, the higher the string, the further is the shadow.

Time constraints did affect the outcome of the project. Some participants did not have the time necessary to finish their name. Some chose not to follow the rules and spelled things that do not make sense.


2 comments:

  1. The most compelling thing about this project is that it allows you to visualize hierarchies that are dependent upon the commonality of certain letters in a person's name. As it is vital for buildings to have hierarchical spaces throughout them, this project could be a provocative method in finding form for sections/plans.

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  2. I enjoyed this project because it expanded on an idea I was aiming to accomplish. The idea of tack and string was a creative way in which to represent the class' initials. This generated interesting pockets of differing densities within the canvas, as well as great shadows on the cardboard, which I thought was captured well in the detail shot. The tectonic developed a maze of intersecting linear patterns anchored by the pins, culminating into an intriguing form from afar as well as up close, zooming on the structure of the piece.

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