110127 - braiding landscapes

It may be helpful to realize…that the primary form of mathematical communication is not description, but injunction. In this respect it is comparable to practical art forms like cookery, in which the taste of a cake, although literally indescribable, can be conveyed to the reader in the form of a set of injunctions called a recipe.

- G. Spencer-Brown
Laws of Form, 1969

Braiding (and other techniques for interconnecting stranded material, knitting, weaving, etc.) is executed according to a pre-defined set of directives called injunctions. The finished form of a braid or knit may be ‘literally indescribable,’ but it can be communicated in a set of injunctions.

Working by injunction is fundamentally exploratory because outcomes cannot be fully anticipated. It involves iterative improvement (a recipe for baking a cake is followed, results are evaluated, recipe is adjusted to achieve a more desirable outcome, and the cake is baked again). It is a technique for avoiding pre-figuration and extending beyond the expected. Much of the work you are currently doing is by injunction; keep this in mind as you begin braiding landscapes.

knitted surface: Aurelie Mosse

weaving diagram

DIAGRAM

In groups of four, select one river map that will inform a set of injunctions for braiding – collaboratively develop a braiding diagram based on this map. The braiding diagram will:

• extract organizational principles from the river map (not attempt to duplicate it)
• introduce a logic for passing strands over and under each other
• indicate how a series of individual strands fill a field
• describe repetitive braiding operations serve as a guide or set of directives for producing the landscape

Continue developing your individual braided river map according to feedback received in class.

LANDSCAPE

Extending from individually created units and intersecting strands, begin collaboratively building the landscape. The braiding diagram will serve a guide, though be aware that the internal logics of the wood molding profile material system will push back against this externally derived set of directives. Allow internal logics and external directives to evolve in negotiation with one another. In a series of tests, iteratively modify procedures for building stranded units and the braiding diagram until they work in concert to realize the landscape.

The group landscape must measure 48” x 48” x 12”. It must be at least 80% opaque when viewed directly from above. It must incorporate at least two different molding profiles. It may incorporate a secondary structural system of wood dowels for strength and rigidity. Sections of the landscape may be detachable for transport and storage.