"Prairie" comes
from a recent series of compositions developed from algorithmically
generated tiling patterns. In their surface appearance, the compositions
imitate traditional arts such as quilting, weaving, and ceramics.
Through careful choice of compositional rules, the artist creates
patter modules that recall natural patterns such as the dispersion
of plant species across a meadow.
The artist began working
with these tiling patterns over 20 years ago in Spain, where he
developed the theoretical basis for the current series through an
abstract, mathematical shorthand for representing the patterns and
the rules that govern them. The patterns were used for paintings,
theatrical games, and parametric spaces for musical compositions.
Using a computer to manage the possibilities for image production
and intermedia composition which would have been practically impossible
to explore manually. The series title, Recordatori (Catalonian for
"memorial"), suggests that patterns act as memory cues,
preserving and regenerating experience. Although in a sense the
generative process itself is the artwork, the artist also attempts
to evoke the role of traditional arts in carrying memory forward
and the simple satisfaction we experience in the play of pattern
and color.
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