Sunday, June 1, 2008

Not the Antithesis of Artistic Thinking

I just completed a new animated grid, and I'm thinking of the following quote from Mel Bochner — in his “ICA Lecture”, 1971. [Reprinted in Bochner, Solar System & Rest Rooms, Writings and Interviews, 1965-2007, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, ISBN 978-0-262-02631-4. Page 90-92.] he wrote:

"Any sort of information can be diverted by a set of externally maintained constants. Concentration on these constants, rather than on the information itself, results in the surfacing of a structure. This means a shift in focus from an object to the order.

When order is focused upon it, it reveals that there are no inherent necessities that define what form a work of art should take. This mode of thinking immediately links us to certain areas of mathematical thought. Mathematical thinking is generally considered the antithesis of artistic thinking, but it is not. The two aspects of mathematical thinking that interest me are its clarity and rigor. These are also the characteristics of the best art."

The new grid is from a program that should free me from some of the tedious reprogramming I've been doing to create these animations. I've distilled the process down to a set of easily changed points, lines, and curves so I can try more variations, quickly.



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